Secrets to Keep
by Arashi-Hikari
Summary: When a 5th year Hufflepuff makes a surprising discovery, she begins to fear what his reaction to the news will be. Will he stand by her side through this tough period of time, or abandon her to keep his reputation and family name intact? Rated T now for safety purposes.
1. Discovery

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own my OC's in this story.**

* * *

"How could this happen? Oh god, **oh my god**." She said, terrified to think what he could do if he found out. Pacing back and forth, Melinda Valkyrie wondered relentlessly what his reaction would be to finding out she was pregnant.

As she continued to pace, the caramel haired Hufflepuff had no idea what to do about this news. How could she be expecting a child at 15? It was one time, they were drunk, they used protection, so how could it be?

Staring at the test in her hand that marked moving blue bubbles in the shape of an infant, she let out a long drawn out sigh and slumped down on the couch. 'It's not gonna be pretty when he finds out.' She thought and leaned back while fighting to keep stress-released tears from pouring out of her eyes.

'I just need to suck it up, take some courage, and go tell him. Yeah, that's what I'll do. I need to tell him, I need...to tell him that I...' Groaning, Melinda closed her eyes and frowned; this was so much more complicated than she wanted it to be. She couldn't just come out and say to him she was pregnant with his baby, what if he didn't believe her?

Mustering some courage, she got up and made way out of the common room and to the Great Hall, passing by a trashcan and carelessly discarding the test inside. She figured she'd get some food down her stomach and think about the best way to tell him later. She then stopped in the middle of the hall as a thought struck her. 'He'll be there, I'll see him and then I won't be able to take it.' Her mind went haywire over this for the longest time. Mel for a moment wanted to reconsider and go back up to the dorms, but then abandoned that idea and just decided to go with her first plan.

Arriving at the Great Hall, she made way to the Hufflepuff table without even giving a glance to his table. She didn't want to take any chances of seeing him there and having herself fall apart right there. Mel took her seat, so that she had her back to _that _table, and began to scrape scrambled eggs and some sausages onto her plate. She then picked at it for a while, until one of her friends tapped the table to get her attention.

"Are you alright there, Mel?" Her friend Valerie Thompson asked, a hint of concern in her tone of voice. "Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine, just drowsy." She assured and even gave a small smile.

"If you say so..." She continued to eat her breakfast then. Melinda was still having conflicts with herself in her mind. Should she tell him? Should she not? If she did, should she do it today or wait another day, two days, or this coming weekend?

"You seem so out of it this morning." Her other friend named Andrea Rosetti then commented. "Do I?" She questioned absentmindedly. Andrea nodded and took a bite of a sausage. "Are you sure you're not sick or something of the sort? Maybe you've got the flu again." Shrugging, Mel looked down at her untouched food before pushing it away and just sticking with the cup of pumpkin juice.

Her two friends exchanged a look between each other before leaving her be and finishing their meal. After about 10 minutes of her being there, two Gryffindor students from the 6th year came up to the Hufflepuff table and made the line down to where Melinda was sitting.

"Good morning! How fine is our lovely Mel today~?" Asked Fred Weasley with in a sing-song tone. Mel glanced over to him in the midst of taking a sip of her drink. He and his twin brother, George, both wore their charming cheeky grins as they had one arm wrapped around each others' shoulder while staring down at her.

"Peachy." She decided to say. The two sat on either side of her; since they became friends, the Hufflepuffs knew to leave those seats vacant, as if they had carved their name on them to mark their territory. As it was routinely done, Fred and George then wrapped their arms around her shoulders.

"Aww, why so peachy today? It's a perfectly fine morning with the sun shining bright outside and the birds chirping," Fred began. "Quite the music to our ears." George then completed. They were being rather ironic, as the magical sky up in the Great Hall ceiling, usually mimicking the climate outside, was seeming gloomy with gray clouds and some bit of rain effects.

Andrea, Valerie and Mel rolled their eyes at their incredibly good mood; not that they weren't usually in a good mood anyways.

"I don't know, I just am." Melinda mumbled and finished up her juice. The twins looked at each other before getting a mischievous grin and nodding at the same time. Next thing she knew, they had her trapped between them while they ruffled up her hair. Mel struggled to get out of their grasp, until finally they decided to let go.

"Very funny you two." She huffed a bit and tried fixing her hair. Valerie and Andrea snickered at first, then shook their heads at the twins' childish behavior.

"Oh don't be grouchy, you love us and you know it." George said, still grinning. "We make your life much more interesting and fun, you can't deny that." Fred added with a nod.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm going to class early today, cya." She stood up, grabbing her bags and walked out of the Great Hall as her four friends watched her go with curious eyes. Melinda was still preoccupied with how she was going to tell him the news. She had no set plan whatsoever; he was already difficult to approach in school, imagine with this kind of news...

'It'll be hard to get him alone, but maybe I'll try that during lunch break.' She thought as she neared the Transfiguration classroom. Heading in, she already saw two Ravenclaws in there buried in their books. Quietly, Melinda slipped over to her desk and sat down. There was still about 10 minutes left before classes would begin. She folded her arms on top of the desk and laid her head down. 'This is going to be one tough year...'


	2. What to Do?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own my OC's in this story.**

* * *

The bell rang, indicating the end of the 3rd hour class. Melinda came out from the dungeons and headed up to the hallways. She merged with several other students that came out of their classrooms to get to the Great Hall. It was lunch time and Melinda still didn't figure out how to get him alone and away from his friends.

'This would be so much easier if he wasn't from that house...' She thought with a small sigh. Holding onto the strap of her bag, she went off to the Great Hall to meet up with her friends as usual. Upon seeing Andrea, she hurried over and stood next to her so they could wait for Valerie to show up. All the other students filed into the Hall and sat at their designated tables. Valerie then came running up from behind the Gryffindor twins, Parvati and Padma Patil.

"I'm here! I'm here." She said, stopping for a second to catch her breath. "What's the hurry? The food's not going anywhere." Andrea joked before the three of them went over to the Hufflepuff table.

Many were buzzing around Cedric Diggory, since he was 17 and he said he was going to put his name into the Goblet of Fire to try and participate on the Tournament. The first time they heard about the Triwizard Tournament taking place at Hogwarts, everyone was surprised and excited at the same time. The students really went wild when the other two competing schools, Beauxbaton and Durmstrang, made their entrance at the welcoming feast. The rule that only those who came of age could participate seemed to upset a great deal of people, especially the Weasley twins who thought it was downright bullocks.

Melinda was pumped for it at first, until a week later she discovered something extremely out of her reality; she was pregnant. After that, the thought of the tournament, the prize, the heavy competition, the tasks the participants were to face, and all that animosity had completely vanished for her. She was now focused on her situation, and how she was going to break it to him.

'I have to tell him, no matter what. He might not believe me, maybe even laugh at me, but I have to do it...oh god what if he really _does _laugh at me?' She thought, beginning to worry again. It all came down to his reaction once he found out.

The three Hufflepuffs chatted amongst each other while eating a serving of spaghetti with a slice of turkey meat, and mash potato with gravy. Melinda wasn't really doing much of the talking; she was more like half listening to her friends and spacing out at the same time, meanwhile picking at her mash potato.

"What is wrong with you today?" Andrea finally called out to her. "Hm?" Mel looked to her before coming to her senses completely. "Sorry." Valerie shook her head. "You have been very 'spacy' lately." Melinda took a bite of her food and munched on it while giving a shrug. She gulped it down with some juice and stared at the two. "I'm just not energetic today."

The other two looked at one another. "Tell me about it." Andrea muttered before going back to eating her food. Mel had the urge to glance back to his table for a second, but managed to control such urge and eat all she had on her plate before excusing herself to go to the lavatory. In reality, she wasn't going there but rather was going to wait near the hallways for when he came out.

'There has to be a time where I'll get him alone.' She thought, stopping by a hall with some moving stairways. She leaned against the wall and stared over at the many moving portraits further into the hall. She saw a few having a lunch break like the students, and also saw many leave from behind their portrait frames and appear into a neighboring one's portrait to chat.

'If talking to him was as easy as just shifting from one portrait to another like that...' Melinda thought and looked down at her shirt, more specifically where her stomach was. Soon enough she was going to get a bump, and then, how would she be able to hide from the rest in the school? As far as she knew, no one has ever gotten pregnant in Hogwarts; it was more of a Muggle thing to do that.

Heaving a sigh, she tried to think how life would change for her in a few weeks and months. 'Would I be expelled if they found out?' The thought crossed her mind, making her more nervous of the situation, and causing her to rethink about telling him at all.

Suddenly, she heard loud voices exiting the Great Hall and heading down, nearing the hall she was in. She heard a few laughs and her heart began to pound rapidly as she recognized one of the laughs. With the anxiety building up inside her, Mel felt an urge to just run up the stairs and avoid confrontation, but her feet wouldn't budge as if they were glued to the ground.

The footsteps drew nearer, and with each coming second her heart beat faster than before it was almost likely to explode before they reached her. She felt herself start to sweat from nervousness, and she slowly inched herself closer to the moving stairways. She froze when the footsteps came to a stop, just before they came into view of the hall she was in.

"Go on, I don't need you two following me to the lavatory, you know." Said a slightly sneering voice, being responded with two grunts. The fading of two pairs of footsteps caught her attention. Then, she saw him walk right past the hall and off. Her eyes watched, but she dared not move from her spot just yet.

'Calm down Melinda, calm down. He's alone now, here's your chance to tell him.' She thought, trying to encourage herself to do it. Gathering all her willpower, she began to move away from the stairways and out of the hall. Looking around the corner, she saw his retreating figure further down, before he turned into another hall and she lost sight of him.

Melinda then began to pursue after him, half hoping to reach him on time, and half hoping she wouldn't be able to find him so she could delay telling him the news. She turned into the same hallway he had turned and followed down it. It was slightly darker in this hall than the other ones, she noticed. 'Where does this corridor lead to again?' Mel tried to remember, but nothing came to mind right now.

She slowed her pace when she saw him in the distance again, and observed which way he was taking next. He turned to the right in another hall and she followed still. The moment she turned the corner, however, she stopped. There he stood, not too far from her. He was also staring right at her too, which made her feel even more nervous.

"What is it?" He asked her, a bit impatiently. Melinda bit her lip before taking a few steps forward.

"I have something to tell you, Draco..."


	3. Almost

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story. **

* * *

"Well? Say it already, I'm in a hurry." Draco stated rather obnoxiously. Melinda tried, but nothing seemed to want to leave her mouth. That began to irritate him.

"Look, if you are not going to say anything, I'm going." He said, about to turn around to leave. "N-no wait!" Mel called out, but she stopped when she felt something strange in the pit of her stomach.

Draco paused and stared at her with a raised eyebrow." Hey, Valkyrie, you're not-" But before he could finish, Mel quickly ran past him and to the nearest lavatory. She pushed open a door of a stall and fell to her knees right as she started to puke her guts out into the privy.

It didn't seize until almost 3 minutes had gone by. Someone behind her groaned in disgust. "Must you really be sick in front of me? That is utterly disrespectful." Draco spat without thinking. Melinda said nothing as she wiped her mouth and flushed the toilet. She slowly stood up and came out of the stall, a bit dizzy after having spilled out all the contents in her stomach. Draco moved away from her by instinct, not wanting to be vomited on if she got sick again.

"You do know this is the boys' bathroom, right?" He questioned. "I would be embarrassed if someone else was here instead of me. But this scenario is not unfamiliar to me..." He mumbled. Glancing to him for a second, she then made way to the sinks and washed her mouth properly. Draco watched her still, and though he thought it was none of his business to just stay there, something told him to.

"Now that you took care of that little mishap, tell me what you had to say to me." He said, in an almost demanding tone, too. Melinda stood still, just staring at her reflection in the mirror for the moment, and then at his reflection also showing behind hers. That starting courage she had to tell him seemed to slowly wear off after this happened.

Turning around, Melinda looked right at him, very unsure of what she was going to say. Draco remained there still, his curiosity just not letting him leave.

"Well, um, I-I got...I mean..." She started to stumble on her words and stutter a bit, which he didn't find amusing and rather annoying, by the look on his face.

"Spit it out already, I don't have the time to wait around until you decide to tell me what it is." Melinda gulped, tasting a bit of the vomit in her throat still. 'I need to tell him, it's now or never.' She thought, but her mind kept going back and forth on it.

" P-Promise me that you won't laugh or think it's not true first." She heard herself say. Draco had a confused look on his face when she requested that, but gave a careless nod as he just wanted to hear what she had to say already.

"Okay, well, the thing is, I-" Mel was interrupted by two voices that were approaching the lavatory. Draco's eyes widened and he quickly grabbed her arm and pushed her into the last of the stalls, right as the two people came in.

"Are you done here, Draco?" Questioned one of his buffoons, Crabbe. Draco rolled his eyes and walked over to him and Goyle. "Can I not do my business without you two coming to check? Honestly, that just gives me a bad impression of you two." He stated before heading on out with them.

With her heart still beating fast, Melinda heard their footsteps fade out of the lavatory. 'That was a close one.' She thought, not wanting to imagine what would've happened if the two caught her in the boys' bathroom, let alone with Draco.

She slowly pushed the door of the stall open and took a peek out to make sure she was alone, then she hurried out of there so no one else would catch her if they came in. Mel walked down the hall, thinking about how she almost told him. 'Stupid me, why didn't I just come out with it instead of stalling so much? And the sudden puking, it couldn't have come at a better time, could it?' She thought sarcastically.

Although Draco was smart to think quick and hide her from Crabbe and Goyle, she couldn't help but feel a little upset at the gesture. Obviously, he didn't want to be seen with her. Melinda was a pureblood, but being a Hufflepuff was enough reason for Slytherins to not like her. That and the fact that she was friends with Gryffindor students, such as the Weasley twins.

'This is going to be much harder than I thought.' Sighing, Melinda decided to just go back to the Great Hall and figure something out later.

By the time she reached the Hall, lunch was near its end and her two friends were waiting for her. "My goodness, you sure took your sweet time." Valerie commented, a bit playfully. Mel smiled a little and sat down. "I wasn't feeling too good." She said in turn.

"Yeah, you do not look well. Maybe you really are sick. Why don't you check with Madam Pomfrey?" Andrea suggested. Mel tensed a little at what she said. 'Check with the school nurse? What if she finds out?' She thought. Right now, she didn't feel she wanted to reveal to anyone about her situation, especially Madam Pomfrey.

"I don't know, I'll just wait and see if I get better as the day goes." She decided to say, picking up her bag and standing up now. The other two did the same and they went off to their 4th hour classroom.

* * *

Luckily, Mel didn't feel nauseous for the rest of the day, so she could focus on the lessons and do her schoolwork without a problem. Still, the thought of having almost told him wouldn't leave her mind. She kept thinking she should've done it the moment she got his attention, but instead her nervousness got the best of her and she ruined the opportunity...not to say her sickness helped her out on that too.

As Andrea, Valerie and Melinda walked out of the library from having finished their homework, Valerie suddenly stopped and gasped. The other two stopped as well and looked at her weirdly.

"I just realized something." She said. The other two looked at each other, then back at her.

"Realized what?" Andrea asked. Valerie didn't say anything for a moment, then she looked right at the two of them. "Remember how they said that with the Tournament, there was also going to be a Yule Ball?" The two girls nodded.

"Well, I don't know who I'm going with! Do you two have a date already?" She asked, seeming to get a little upset at the thought of no one asking her yet.

Andrea chuckled and shook her head. "Calm down, Val. The Yule Ball is in December, we're still in September. You have nearly 2 months and a half to get asked to the Ball, so don't worry too much about it."

'The Yule Ball, huh...' Melinda thought, and the first person that popped into her head was him, but she quickly shook his image out of her head. It wasn't going to happen, it was a one in a million chance that he would actually ask her, a Hufflepuff, to the dance. Most likely, he would take Pansy Parkinson, the Slytherin pug face that leeches off of him almost 24/7.

"Anyways, I don't even have a date yet, do you Mel? Mel...Mel!" She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Andrea. "What?" Her friends shook their heads at her.

"Pay attention will you?" She half teased. "Did anyone ask you to the Ball yet?" Mel shook her head. "No, why?"

Andrea and Valerie gave each other a look. "You know, I think one of the twins might ask you." Valerie then commented. Raising an eyebrow, Mel stared at them dumbly.

"Why would one of them ask me to it?" Valerie groaned and Andrea rolled her eyes. "Come on Mel, they hang around you practically everyday. It's obvious they like you! Well, at least one of them ought to."

"I think you two are looking into this way deeper than you should." Mel said, before she began to head off to their Common Room. The thought of one of the twins liking her wasn't impossible to Mel, but it just didn't seem right to her. Maybe because she was going to have a child in a few months and by December, she would've gotten a bump already, or maybe because she already had her mind set on one person, that would most likely never ask her, especially if he knew the truth.


	4. The List

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own my OC's in this story. **

* * *

It wasn't easy hiding her morning sickness from everyone, especially since they came at random. Her friends were getting concerned that she was really ill, but she brushed it off as a minor nagging bug she probably caught. Andrea and Valerie insisted that she go to Madam Pomfrey, but Melinda didn't want the nurse to find out she was pregnant. She instead lied to them, saying that she had visited the Hospital Wing before, and that Pomfrey had 'given' her a 'medicine' to take every once in a while to help her get better.

'Thank god they believed me.' She thought, almost sure they would see right through her. Meanwhile, Fred and George didn't think much of her being ill, and to her luck brushed it off quicker than the other two had.

"So Mel, want to play a prank on the Slytherins with us today?" Fred suggested as George carried a sack full of most likely what they were going to use for the prank. Melinda didn't feel up to it, so she declined.

"No, sorry. Maybe another time, I have a lot of homework to do." She excused, and both twins groaned a little. "Oh come on, you can do that later, you're smart anyways." George now said.

"I'm not smart by nature you know, I study, unlike two people I know." She insinuated, and the twins got a look of innocent oblivion.

"I'm not quite sure I know what you speak of. Well either way, you better join us next time. We'll see you around!" Fred ruffled her hair and went off with George to put their prank into action.

Shaking her head, Melinda went off to the library to pass time. Once she got there, she sat down at an empty table in the corner and opened up her Potions textbook and began to halfheartedly read a paragraph. She wasn't very into the subject, as her mind kept busying her with other thoughts, such as her baby.

'It's already October, and I can feel a small bump forming on my stomach.' She thought, absentmindedly placing a hand there. Since that day she tried to tell Draco about it, she couldn't face him again and rather avoided any kind of contact with him.

With his attitude, she feared what he would say or do or whatever his reaction would be to the news of him being a father. One of the things that terrified her the most was him getting angry at her and asking her to have an abortion. Mel would never bring herself to think of doing such a thing, because she was completely against ending an unborn child's life just because of their mistake. She just wasn't that type of person.

'If only he wasn't there that night.' She sighed to herself, and looked down at her stomach where her hand was resting still. How long could she keep it a secret from him? How long could she hide it from everyone else? The thought of being expelled was still in her head, and that was the last thing she wanted to happen.

At home, she had her caretaker Martha, who would probably be upset with her for having done such a stupid thing. However, she was not a relative of hers, so would she even care about it? Well, she would have to help with the baby too, so maybe that was reason enough to be upset with Mel.

'If I'm expelled, I'll just disappear to somewhere and find a job.' But who would hire a pregnant teenager? No one in their right mind would want to have anything to do with her.

Melinda started to lose her spirits because of this. She didn't want to make her baby's life hard, especially if the father rejected it. How would she provide for it on her own? Sure, she could get the inheritance her parents left her, but the money would only last for so long.

'Right, maybe I should start making a list of things I should do.' She thought, nodding to herself and taking out a piece of parchment from her bag. She dipped her feathery pen into her ink bottle and began to write the headline on the parchment: Things to Consider Before BB Comes.

She paused for a moment to think of the things she'd have to do. 'Well, I'd have to have a place to stay, first.' So then, Melinda wrote that down. 'I also have to think of the budget I have and the priority things I'd have to buy before the baby's born.' She put that down as well. On went the list, until she had 10 things written down.

Looking up at the Library clock, she saw it read 6:15 PM. Gathering her things into her bag, Mel got up and headed out to meet her friends, as they had made plans to check their work for their classes before dinnertime. While stuffing her things into her bag, one piece of parchment that was folded in half fell out without her noticing.

Someone soon came upon the folded parchment on the ground, and picked it up before they left as well.

* * *

Melinda met up with Valerie and Andrea, and waiting with them were also the Weasley twins.

"Hey Mel!" They greeted her once she got there. "Hey guys, what's going on?" She asked, looking to the twins now.

"Oh nothing much," Fred said. "We just want you to witness our masterpiece." George ended. Before she could ask what they meant by that, George turned her around towards the end of the hallway, where Crabbe and Goyle were walking up, but stopped upon spotting a bowl filled with delicious looking truffles. Being dumb as they were, they picked up the bowl and grinned at each other.

"Here goes." Whispered Fred near her ear. The two buffoons obviously started to eat them, thinking someone had accidentally left the treats there, and since they didn't care, the two ate the whole batch. At their 3rd serving, their faces started to turn a shade of blue, purple, then dark green.

Melinda blinked at that. The two began to notice how their faces were turning strange colors and their eyes widened, especially when they began to swell up. Next thing they knew, they had grown out two fat elf ears and buck teeth. Screaming in fright, both ran off, in the direction of the Hospital Wing no doubt.

Valerie and Andrea were laughing hard, and the twins were nearly doubling over with laughter as well. Melinda had her share of laughs, because truthfully the sight really was funny. It felt good to laugh like that and forget some of her worries. Only the twins were capable of doing such a thing to her.

"That was priceless, did you see their faces? Hah! Serves them right too." Valerie commented. Andrea nodded as those Slytherins were always picking on them, so the prank carried out by the twins was like a little sweet revenge to them.

Fred and George grinned and gave a bow to them. "Thank you, we appreciate the compliments."

Mel shook her head and grinned a bit. "Pranking is definitely your hobby huh, are going to make something out of that once you're both out of school?" Both twins nodded at the same time.

"Yup!" Fred confirmed. "You bet! We have it all nearly figured out." George added in. Melinda nodded at that. "Great, best of luck to you, mates."

The twins grinned. "Aww, Mel really does care about us, George~!" Said Fred with an overly sweet tone. George chuckled." Yes, but we already knew that, didn't we?"

Rolling her eyes, she then caught Andrea and Valerie giving her meaningful looks. She ignored them and they separated from the Weasleys to hang out, as originally planned.

"I'm telling you, they definitely have something going on for you." Valerie said to Mel while they walked down the outside bridge of the castle.

"You're imagining things, it's just how they are." Mel responded. The other two looked at each other again and heaved sighs.

"She is so shallow." Valerie mumbled. "More like oblivious." Andrea told her. Melinda ignored them and went on ahead until she reached the other end, taking a seat on one of the benches near the water fountain.

The other two reached her a minute later and sat down beside her. "So," Andrea started, deciding to change subjects before Mel got annoyed. "Are you two excited for the Halloween Feast?" Valerie and Melinda looked to her.

"Well, I'm excited for the food, that's for sure." Val said with a cheeky grin. "They make the best pumpkin pie on that holiday."

Andrea rolled her eyes at her. "I'm talking about what's going to happen at the feast. The Goblet of Fire will choose the three competitors for the Tournament, remember?" Realization dawned on both girls.

"Oh yeah! I hope Cedric gets in. He ought to win, it would be so great for our House!" Valerie said, and then gave a dreamy sigh. Both Andrea and Melinda knew she had a crush on the guy, but it was kind of hard to think of them together as they were so different.

'Different, like Draco and I.' Mel thought solemnly. She still didn't quite know how to tell the boy that she was expecting his baby. Them getting together was already mission impossible, because the cons outweighed the pros by a long margin.

The three continued to talk about the Tournament, the Yule Ball, school and boys and anything else that came to mind, until it was dusk and time for them to head off to dinner.


	5. Rumors

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own my OC's in this story.**

* * *

Halloween ended up being on a Friday, much to everyone's content. At the Dinner Feast, the students were all excited about finding out the three people that were to compete on the Triwizard Tournament. Everyone was so anxious they could barely eat anything. Finally, Dumbledore stood up from his seat, and walked over to the Goblet of Fire.

"Sit down please. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, the champions selection!" He approached the blue flame and it began to glow red. Everyone had their eyes on it.

The flame shot out a piece of paper, and Dumbledore caught it before reading over the name. "The Durmstrang champion is...Viktor Krum!"

Instantly, the Durmstrang crowed cheered for Viktor as he came up. The next name was shot out, and Dumbledore once again read it out loud. "The champion from Beauxbatons...Fleur Delacour!"

The girls from that school congratulated and cheered Fleur as she walked up herself. Then, the last one came out. Every student from Hogwarts held their breath and listened intently to the name that was to be read.

"The Hogwarts champion...Cedric Diggory!" The Hufflepuff House was the first to erupt in loud cheers, followed by the other Houses. Valerie and Andrea went wild with the news, while Melinda was less enthusiastic than them.

"Yes! Cedric did it!" Val said and then fawned herself as Cedric went past them and up to join the other two.

Dumbledore smiled at that. "Excellent! We now have our three champions! But in the end only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory the Triwizard Cup!"

More cheers followed after that, but it went quiet quickly once they saw the Goblet glow red again, and a 4th name came out. Dumbledore took it and read it, quietly at first.

"Harry Potter...Harry Potter?" Everyone was confused as to why Harry's name was being called.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called, more urgently now. Melinda watched as Harry slowly got up from the Gryffindor table, and walked up. Dumbledore gave him his paper without any hint of happiness by his expression.

Just then, people began to whisper and one person shouted, "He's a cheat! He's not even 17 yet!" More whispers followed after that as the four champions went off to another room.

"I can't believe this, a 4th champion!" Valerie said. Andrea shook her head. "And it just had to be Potter, huh? Don't you think that's a little odd?" The two girls nodded when she said that.

"But still...he's not 17, how could he have done it?" Mel asked. "He could've asked an older student to put his name in there for him, you know paid him or something." Val suggested, and Andrea seemed to find that plausible.

"Oh come on you guys, I don't think Harry would do that. Frankly, I don't think he even wants that much attention." Mel mumbled. The other two weren't so sure about that.

Everyone was talking about it up until bedtime. As the students filed out of the Great Hall, the Slytherins were making snide and cruel remarks about how Potter always wanted to be the center of attention, as if it wasn't enough that he was labeled _The Boy Who Lived_.

The Gryffindor House was hesitant and confused on this development; they didn't really know what to say about it, but a lot of them were suspicious, doubtful, and confused.

While walking behind Valerie and Andrea, who were still talking about it, Melinda caught sight of Draco and his two buffoons, Crabbe and Goyle. He was poking fun at Harry, mimicking his way of acting and then making mean remarks about him.

For a moment, she considered grabbing him without the two noticing and dragging him off to tell him, but the idea wasn't planned well enough for her to actually execute it. Mel shook her head and walked faster to reach the Hufflepuff Common Room.

* * *

It was six in the morning, and Melinda quickly woke up and headed to the bathroom to puke as part of her morning sickness. After spending 5 minutes in there, she came out quietly and got some clothes to change into. Since the girls were still fast asleep, she decided to head on out and down to the Common Room. As she walked down the stairs from the dorm, she heard two Hufflepuff 3rd years talking about Harry Potter.

"How dare he take the glory away from us? He's already got enough attention these past years." One girl huffed to the other who nodded.

"Yeah, how far can he go? This was Cedric's moment. He was going to represent us Hufflepuffs in one of the most important Tournaments in the world! I hope Potter goes down on the first task." The two then went out.

'Geez, they're really upset over this.' Mel thought, but she could understand them. All the other Houses seemed to get special treatment and were more recognized than them. Ravenclaws were smart and excelled in Academics. Gryffindors were brave and had Harry Potter, who was not only a celebrity, but the youngest Quidditch seeker of their team that almost always won. Slytherins, though not liked much by the others, were ambitious and mostly followed the rules; in other words they weren't troublemakers and were favored by Professor Snape more than any other teacher in the school and got away with things very often.

The House that was left with the 'scraps' was Hufflepuff. There was nothing special about them, except maybe they were more friendly and, according to the sorting hat, _those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil._

When Cedric's name was read, that was a moment of recognition, of glory, to represent the entire Hogwarts school on the Triwizard Tournament. They were finally important, being chosen over any Gryffindor, any Ravenclaw, and any Slytherin that had tried to enter. That had all been taken away when Harry's name popped out of that red flame, to be the first ever, 4th competitor of the event.

Many Hufflepuffs felt betrayed, angry, upset and dispirited from having the spotlight stolen away so quickly by the famous Harry Potter. Even though they were very against the decision to keep him in the Tournament, what they said about it was just how they truly felt. It wasn't meant to harm Harry; they were 'true' to their feelings..although they could do well to not exaggerate and broadcast that so much.

Andrea and Valerie were still a little upset over the news, but Andrea seemed to be taking it better than Val. She who had a major crush on Cedric, decided to stick to her support for Cedric, and the other two had a faint idea that was to try to somehow get his attention, to show him that she was loyal to him and that she believed in him with all her heart.

Surprisingly enough, Cedric seemed to be taking the news better than the rest of the House. He was calm, and wasn't talking bad about Harry at all. He was just that kind of humble and modest person. Still, others couldn't help but be more upset about the turn of events.

Melinda walked out of the Common Room and down the hall. After having puked again, she felt a tremendous desire to eat food, more specifically sausages and scrambled eggs. Luckily for her, the baby bump she had wasn't enough to be noticeable yet; her clothes still fit enough to hide it and since the weather was getting colder, she wore her black robes that helped conceal it.

Arriving at the Great Hall, Melinda took a seat and began to put a large amount of food onto her plate. Only a few were down there at this hour, but they looked at her with raised eyebrows at her sudden big appetite. Ignoring their stares, she scarfed almost half the food down in the first 2 minutes, before adding some strange things to the dish, such as strawberry jelly and some yams.

After having her fill, she drank her pumpkin juice and headed off to get some fresh air. As she got outside, she heard three Slytherin girls talking amongst themselves not too far away.

"Yes, I heard it too." One commented. "Did you? It's unbelievable. Who would be stupid enough to get pregnant in school?" The other questioned.

"Must've been some stupid Gryffindor skank." The third one sneered and they all snickered.

Melinda stood frozen as she heard that. 'It can't be, it just can't...' She thought, before quickly leaving that place. Who could have found out? She hadn't said anything to a single soul. She took all precautions as well; her bump wasn't even showing yet! So how come? Who started talking about it? Her mind was having mixed thoughts and was jumbled up in a complete massive confusion.

'They don't know who it is, but they know someone's pregnant. Oh god, what do I do now?' She stopped near the trees and leaned against one with a sigh.

It was a little chilly outside, being the end of fall and the start of winter. Melinda's face was cold, but she didn't care. What she did care was that her secret was out, except no one knew it was her that was expecting a baby.

'But, how in the world did they find out?' Was her question. She decided to head back inside, and right as she got to one of the halls, she heard more gossips and rumors about it. And the more she heard, the more she got nervous about people figuring out it was her.

She finally caught sight of Andrea and Valerie, quickly coming up to them. "Hey guys." She greeted, trying to sound normal despite her freaking out on the inside.

"Hey Mel! You woke up earlier than usual." Andrea said, to which Mel shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to enjoy Saturday early." She said.

"Oh hey, did you happen to catch word?" Valerie then chimed in. Mel blinked, not sure what she was speaking of. "About..?"

"Someone's pregnant in school!" She said and Andrea nudged her side. "Don't be so loud." She hissed to Val, who flushed a small bit. Mel tensed up. 'Great, so now they know too. Wonderful...I wonder if Draco already heard about it.' She figured he probably did, since she first overheard it from the Slytherin girls. Worry overcame her, but she didn't let that show on the outside for fear that her friends would notice.

"That's just so sad, I don't think Hogwarts has ever had someone get pregnant before." Andrea sighed in pity. Valerie shrugged. "I don't think you should dote on the girl so much, maybe she's a major skank. Besides, it was the couple's fault for not using protection. It's so Muggle-like." She shook her head.

'We _did _use protection, Val...' Mel thought in dismay. The fact that they did use it made her more confused as to how in the world it still happened.

"Anyways, the news is all over the school, it won't be long until it reaches the professors and they start investigating about it." Valerie nodded. "Could the girl get expelled from school?" Andrea asked her and she shrugged. "Maybe, I wouldn't doubt it."

"Y-yeah well, how about the Yule Ball? Any guys asked you two yet?" Mel asked, trying to change the uncomfortable subject. That seemed to do the trick as their minds focused only on the dance.

"Unfortunately no." Valerie sighed, hoping that Cedric would ask her to it. Andrea gave a shake of her head herself. "No one asked me either, but hey, there's still time right?" Mel nodded. "That's fine, no one asked me either and I'm not sure I want to go to it anymore."

That seemed to catch the girls' attention. "What do you mean 'I'm not sure I want to go to it'? You **have **to go!" Valerie stressed.

"Why do I **have **to go?" She questioned and Andrea gave a small snort. "And you ask? To hang out with us! To dance! Have fun! All that stuff." Mel shrugged. "I don't know, I'll think about it."

"That's not like you Mel...you know you've been acting pretty strange since school started again. You're getting sick here and there at random, you've been eating a lot more I'm surprised you're not the size of Parkinson yet." Valerie laughed at that last comment.

Mel smiled a bit, but behind that smile she was dying from nervousness. "Yeah, I guess I've been acting a little weird lately, bit I think I'm just not that energetic anymore. Think I wasted too much of it last year." She said jokingly.

"Well, alright then. You better come to the Ball or we won't forgive you." Andrea warned playfully.

'Yeah, and if I go I'll be exposed to the entire school.' Thought Melinda, before the three headed off.


	6. The First Task

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

It was the 16th of November, and though the air had grown colder, the students didn't feel it was winter yet. The three Hufflepuff girls, Melinda, Valerie and Andrea walked around the outside school grounds. As they passed students, Mel noticed how they were wearing badges with Cedric's face on a bright yellow background, but when it spun it showed instead Harry on a green background and the words 'Potter Stinks' spelled out on it.

"Ugh, how immature of them." Andrea mumbled and Melinda nodded in agreement, but Valerie said nothing. They came upon a scene where Harry was being confronted by Draco who was mocking and insulting him.

Melinda paused for a second; just seeing him every now and then made her heart skip a beat, and she would automatically grow nervous.

"Hey, what's Malfoy up to now?" Andrea was the first to say as she and Val had also stopped beside Mel. Draco jumped from the tree he was on with Crabbe and Goyle. Harry said something that made him angry, and as Harry walked away he pulled out his wand.

Just then, before their eyes, Draco was suddenly turned into a ferret by Professor Mad-Eye Moody who showed up just in time to prevent Draco from casting a spell on Harry.

"I'll teach you to cast when someone's back is turned." He said, almost tauntingly. Professor McGonagall came hurrying past the girls and over to the confusion.

"Professor Moody! What are you doing?" She asked, already with a tone of alarm.

"Teaching." Was his reply. "Is that a student?" McGonagall questioned with a stunned look.

"Technically it's a ferret." He stated, before making ferret Draco hover around, up and down, up and down. Then, he stuffed the ferret into Crabbe's trousers, making him squirm.

Andrea and Valerie started laughing along with the other students watching this, but Melinda didn't join in and just continued to watch the show.

When ferret Draco came out, McGonagall turned him back to normal. Draco stumbled back, and for a moment he seemed to catch Melinda's stare, before his attention was back to what was going on.

"My father will hear about this!" He warned, and Mad-Eye took a step up. "Is that a threat?" He questioned gruffly, and Malfoy ran away instantly while Mad-Eye shouted after him. Right when he ran off Melinda turned and left the area, leaving her two friends confused.

It took a little while for them to catch up to her. "Hey Mel, wait up!" Andrea called after her, she and Val running after their friend. Melinda sighed and stopped. They finally reached her and panted a little.

"Finally you stop. What just happened?" Andrea asked. "Yeah, why did you suddenly leave like that?" Val continued. Mel didn't know how to explain it to them, because she thought it would get all complicated and twisted if she tried to tell them the truth now.

"Nothing, I just remembered I forgot something. I'll meet you guys up in the Great Hall, okay?" She said and left before either one could reply to her.

'Melinda, you need to be careful,' She thought to herself. 'This stupid pregnancy is making all my emotions get mixed up and it's making me sensitive to the stupidest things.'

She walked on until she stopped at a hallway and sat at a vacant bench with a sigh. 'I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up. It's already in the middle of November and I still haven't told him about it.'

Pulling her bag onto her lap, Mel opened it up and searched through the contents inside. She frowned a little when she noticed her parchment paper with the list was missing.

'That's strange, where did it go?' She thought, giving a more thorough search of the bag, yet having the same result. 'I'm sure I didn't take it out of here, so where could it be-' Her mind went wild when a thought crossed her mind.

'If my list is missing, then...that's how they found out! I must've accidentally dropped it or something and someone picked it up and read it! Oh god, just my luck.' Groaning to herself, Mel closed her bag and leaned back. She just felt her life was so screwed up already, it was a strike of luck that she didn't put her name on that parchment.

After sitting there for nearly 15 minutes, she decided to get up and head off to the Great Hall to meet up with Val and Andrea for lunch. On her way there she came upon the Weasley twins, who instantly spotted her and came over with grins.

"Hello Mel, lovely day is it not?" Fred questioned while George pulled her into a side hug. She pulled away almost instantly, hoping he hadn't noticed any difference in how her body felt.

"Sure, sure." She said carelessly and George pinched her cheek. "Come now, don't tell me you're peachy again? You really ought to stop being so boring. What happened to the past years?"

She gave a shrug. "It's just not my year I guess, I don't feel like being happy-go-lucky all the time, if at all." The twins looked at each other before shaking their heads at her.

"Tsk tsk, you should **always **enjoy life Miss Valkyrie, you never know what will happen next." Fred stated. 'Yeah, like getting pregnant...definitely didn't see that coming.' She thought when he said that.

"Well, fortunately for you, we are here to serve as entertainment, so why don't you and your little friends accompany us outside after you've eaten your lunch for a few minutes of amusement?" George suggested. Melinda began to consider the invitation.

"Alright, I'll talk to them." They both grinned and headed back to the Gryffindor table in the Hall. Mel went over to where her friends were waiting and told them what Fred and George said to her.

"Sounds good, I love when they act up in school." Andrea said, grinning. Val nodded in agreement. "They make education at Hogwarts more bearable."

The three then ate their lunch before heading out when the twins called for them. They stopped near the water fountain and already a crowd of students was starting to form around the two.

"Behold, ladies and gents, our magical Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs!" They shot two different firework sparks in the air that flew around, until they both hit the sparks with a stunning spell that made them violently explode and multiply in the air. Their colors changed from blue to pink to green to purple.

Everyone stood in awe and clapped excitedly at their latest invention. Mel grinned with the other two. "Wow, this is really cool you guys!" Valerie said, still mesmerized by the trick.

"I agree, you two always outdo yourselves." Mel added and Andrea nodded to that. The twins had very broad grins at the compliments. The two were truly the best entertainers at Hogwarts, along with being troublemakers and masters of pranks. Melinda was sure they were going to invest on their future doing exactly what they were born to do.

* * *

The first task of the Triwizard Tournament involved dragons. Melinda was on the Hufflepuff side with Andrea and Valerie to cheer Cedric on. Val was so enthusiastic she even color coded her attire with Hufflepuff colors. She also had a banner that said 'Go Cedric!'

The other two shook their heads at her overly exaggerated presentation. It took about half an hour until the first champion went to face their dragon. It was none other than Cedric Diggory. The Hufflepuffs went wild when he came out to face a Swedish Short-Snout.

Everyone went very silent when he began to carefully approach the dragon. One of the first things he did was shoot a spell from his wand at a rock. It suddenly transformed into a dog that barked at the large dragon. Seeming offended, the dragon took the bait and began to tail after the dog as it ran off. Cedric took that opportunity to go for the Golden egg. However, halfway through getting there, the dragon turned its attention back to him and blew out a streak of fire. Cedric yelped and he got his face burned, but withstood the heat long enough to have grabbed the egg before running off. That meant that he had passed the task.

Everyone cheered for Cedric at his success on the first task, Valerie going overboard with her own cheer. The next champion was Fleur Delacour, who faced a Common Welsh Green dragon. She started by enchanting the dragon to sleep, which seemed like a pretty smart move on her part. She went for the egg, but while the dragon slept, it let out a sudden snore and accidentally blew out a jet of flames that set her skirt on fire. She squealed in surprise and used a spell to extinguish the flames before retrieving the egg. She was cheered on the passing of the task, more so by her classmates from school of course.

Then it was Viktor Krum's turn. He went against a Chinese Fireball dragon. Being more rough than the first two, he instantly used a Conjunctivitis Curse to blind the dragon in order to get the egg. He also passed the task, but had points docked off when the dragon stumbled about and smashed a few of the real eggs that were with the Golden one.

Lastly it was Harry Potter against the fiercest dragon of all, the Hungarian Horntail. The crowd gave him cheers as he entered the arena. He spotted the Golden egg right away, and tried to make a run for it, but the Horntail suddenly appeared to protect it, and let out a streak of fire as he hid behind a rock. Melinda and the rest saw him stumble and fall around the arena.

'Come on Harry, you can do it!' She thought, hoping he would pass the task too. Next thing they new, he took out his wand and summoned up his broomstick to mount on. He flew off and the dragon chased after him. The Horntail's chain broke and it burst through the crowd that screamed and looked on with stunned faces.

"Where's he going?" Valerie questioned, confused. "I don't know, but he better avoid getting knocked off his broom, or being burned to crisp by that dragon." Andrea muttered.

Most were silent as they waited for any signs of Harry and the dragon. Suddenly, they all saw him flying back to the arena and they began to cheer loudly. He went right for the Golden egg and successfully took it, thus passing the task. More cheers erupted from the crowd when he did. .

"Yeah, Harry! Wooo!" Mel heard the twins shout and that made her smile. Personally, she was relieved he came out of it alive. She then curiously looked over on the Slytherin side and saw that most, if not all, were rather disappointed that he got through the first round. She distantly saw Draco's displeased face at Harry Potter's win.

Everyone began to leave the stands to head back inside. The Gryffindors were no doubt going to congratulate Harry properly in their Common Room, and the Hufflepuffs planned to do the same for Cedric in theirs.

The three girls ran up to join the Hufflepuff crowd around Cedric, whose face wasn't as burned as before due to Madam Pomfrey having applied some ointment for burns on his face after he was done. Two guys from Cedric's year picked him up and carried him off on their shoulders into the castle. Upon reaching the Common Room, the place was turned into a party environment in seconds, with food some students sneaked from the kitchen that was nearby, music from the stereo blaring a song from The Weird Sisters, and a lot of chatter, compliments and praises being given to Cedric on passing the first task of the Tournament.

Valerie tried to get close to him, but it was hard since he was being hogged by many Hufflepuff girls at the moment.

"Yep, being handsome like him, it must be hard to be smothered by girls so much." Andrea said, aiming to tease Val on her incapability to get close to him. She pouted in return and Melinda chuckled a little.

The party seemed to go on for hours, when in reality it only lasted about 1 hour before all the students, minus the Champions, had to return to classes. Andrea groaned at that.

"Lucky gits, getting exempted from lessons because of the Tournament." She grumbled and fixed the strap of her bag over her shoulder. Melinda said nothing as the three got to their 4th hour class with Professor Mad-Eye.

* * *

Now that the first task was over, it was time for everyone to get focused on the upcoming Yule Ball. Valerie was growing anxious, wishing for Cedric to ask her to it when he barely even talked to her. Andrea was lucky and got asked on the second week of November by a Ravenclaw boy from the same year.

"We're still without dates Mel, what are we to do?" Val sighed. "I might have to give up on Cedric asking me and take the first that tries to ask me to it."

"Well, you really ought to, because I heard he already asked Cho Chang from Ravenclaw and she accepted it." That made Valerie gasp. "Cho Chang? Oh why, why her?" She put her head down on the table and sulked.

Melinda watched her with some amusement before finishing up her third cranberry pie. Andrea had left early to hang out with her date, so the two were alone for the majority of lunchtime. Suddenly, one of the twins approached the Hufflepuff table and sat next to Mel.

"Hey Melinda." Said George in a strange tone of voice that she never heard him use before. Blinking, she stared at him now. "Hey George, what's going on?"

Valerie had lifted her head up by now to watch this. George was acting a little bashful and shy at the moment, which was really odd to Mel.

"Well, I was wondering...has anyone asked you to the Ball yet?" Valerie's eyes widened a little as she seemed to know where this was going.

"No, no one has asked me yet." Melinda mumbled. "Actually I'm not sure-"

"Great! Then how about we go together? You know, as friends of course?" He interrupted her, already excited to know she was available. Val had to hide her wide grin behind her hands that now covered her mouth. Mel was shocked that he actually asked her to it.

"I uh, well...go to the Yule Ball with you?" George nodded, waiting anxiously for her response. Mel bit her lip, feeling in conflict. She didn't really want to go, because she feared her stomach would show too much. She gave a glance to Valerie who gave her a look that said, 'What are you waiting for? Say yes!'

" Uh, sure, why not." She finally answered. George grinned and hugged her. "Splendid! Thanks Mel!" He then got up and went back to join his brother and tell him the news. Melinda turned back to face Val who now exposed her wide grin without caring who saw.

"See? We told you one of them was into you, look at that! So now you and Andrea have a date, while I stand alone still..." She suddenly realized in the midst of speaking and bowed her head down again.

"I'm sure someone will come up to you soon." Mel said encouragingly, but it didn't seem to help her gloomy mood much.

'I shouldn't have said yes.' She thought later that night, blaming herself for giving into the pressure of the moment and spitting out the answer without thinking it through. 'The Yule Ball's on Christmas night, what am I going to do? I don't think there will be any dress that will fit me well enough to hide my stomach. Hopefully it won't grow more until then. It's either that, or I ditch George, feign sick or something...but I'd feel so guilty to leave him hanging like that.' Once again, she went back and forth in her head, until finally she let it go and just rested on her bed. Her eyes grew heavy, and before she knew it she was fast asleep.

_**Dream**  
_

_It was a cold night, the sky was pitch black, and it was raining heavily. Melinda was walking down a street, being guided by the lamp posts that shone off their bright orange colored lights upon the ground. She walked and walked, a few people running by on the sidewalks to find shelter from the rain. She came to a stop at a door that lead to a bar._

_Heading inside, a warmth hit her and the smell of heavy alcohol invaded her nostrils. She took a seat at a corner table, being invisible to most people in there. There was loud talking from various tables, and they mixed so much Melinda could barely make out any words being said. The faint sound of music was being played in the background._

_The image blurred and then focused again. She now had a large mug with half a beer, and about 3 small glasses of shot to the side. Someone was sitting across from her and they were talking, but whatever they said was strangely muffled. The image started to go in and out of focus continuously, and the only thing she was able to make out of the person for sure was very light blond hair, black robes and electric blue eyes._

Melinda suddenly sat up on the bed, the dream having startled her into waking up. 'That dream, it was sort like that time...' She thought, taking a glance around the room and seeing the girls were still asleep. The clock read 3:00 AM, so Mel laid back down and tried to go back to sleep, but her mind was stuck on that dream for a while before she managed to fall back asleep.


	7. Hogsmeade

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

The month of November was coming to a close, and the cold winter of December began to settle in. Many students signed up to stay at Hogwarts in order to get prepared for the Yule Ball, which was to take place on Christmas night. Melinda was still incredibly nervous about it, because she had told George she'd go with him and didn't think about the consequences to that at the time.

"There's a Hogsmeade trip this weekend. We should go so we can get our dresses for the Ball." Valerie suggested at breakfast. Andrea nodded. "Sounds like a plan, how about it Mel?" She looked over to her Hufflepuff friend who was spacing out again.

"Mel...Melinda!" She shouted, startling her from her daze. "What is it?" She asked, looking at her now. "Geez, anyways Valerie and I are going to the Hogsmeade trip this weekend to shop for dresses. You're coming right?"

Melinda hesitated, biting her lip for a second. "Err, sure I guess." She said, mentally slapping herself. Andrea grinned and went back to eating her breakfast. After they were done, they grabbed their bags and headed out of the Great Hall. While walking through the hallways, Melinda saw Draco and his two goons coming from the opposite way.

She tensed up, her heart once again beating faster than normal. He was laughing and fooling with Crabbe and Goyle as they passed the Hufflepuff trio, but for a second he seemed to give a glance in Melinda's way. That small look was enough to almost make her faint from nervousness and anxiety. She was glad when they went by and carried on.

"Hm, what color do you think I should go for? Pink? Purple?" Valerie started then, and Andrea gave a thought to it. "No, those colors don't suit you...how about a peach or cream color?" Valerie scrunched up her face. "Yuck, I don't like those colors." Andrea rolled her eyes. "Then go with whatever you want, picky."

Melinda wasn't really listening to them, her mind as usual keeping her occupied with many thoughts.

'He looked at me, right? Or was I just imagining it? Probably...and the Yule Ball! How am I going to show my face to it when my stomach's growing like this?' She gave an inaudible sigh of distress. They reached their first hour class 5 minutes later and took their usual seats. Only a few students were there early with them. Andrea turned her chair around and sat facing Melinda and Val's desks.

"It's good that we all have dates now. See? I told you someone would ask you sooner or later." Andrea said to Val, who couldn't help but sigh a little.

"Yeah I know, but I would've much preferred Cedric over Wayne Hopkins." Andrea rolled her eyes. "Just be glad someone actually asked you." She then turned to Melinda.

"And George Weasley asked you to the Ball, huh? I knew one of them were interested in you, didn't I say so?" Mel gave a careless shrug.

"I still think you're mistaken. He asked to go as friends." She told her, which had her groaning a little at her friend's gullible mind.

"Yeah, _friends_. That probably had a double meaning if you ask me." Valerie nodded when she said that. "It's so obvious he fancies you Mel, I can see it in his eyes."

Melinda raised an eyebrow. "Since when can you read eyes, Val?" She teased and she stuck her tongue out at her. The bell rang and students started to come into the classroom. Andrea straightened her chair and waved to one of her other friends. Professor Flitwick soon entered when the last bell rang and began to teach from where they last left off.

Charms always went by fast, so before they knew it, it was time to move on to second period class. At that point, Valerie separated from Andrea and Melinda since she had Divination and they had Arithmancy. Professor Vector's class was almost as silent and intense as Professor Snape's, because the subject was very complicated and she assigned quite a lot of homework at the end. Andrea had to periodically get help from Mel, who although wasn't the best at it, knew a little more than her.

Finally, the bell rang and they met up with Valerie to go to their Transfiguration class with Professor McGonagall.

"You know, I heard from two Gryffindor girls that the mysterious pregnant girl might be in our House." Hearing that, Melinda almost stopped walking. Andrea raised her eyebrow. "I don't think so, I didn't notice any girls in Hufflepuff that might look like they're having a baby." Valerie just shrugged. "I'm just saying what I heard."

'Oh no, they have already narrowed down that much? It's really come this far...' Mel thought, her throat having suddenly gone dry with the news. She gulped and carried on, trying to look like nothing was going on with her while subconsciously pulling at her black robes to give it a more baggy effect.

Potions was tedious and dragged on forever as always. Professor Snape had taken points off both Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws for the simplest mistakes on their potion mixture. The three girls were glad when the bell rang and they could escape that dreaded dungeon to go eat some lunch. Melinda tried not to eat too much so as to not raise suspicion with her two friends. Now that word was going out that it might be a Hufflepuff student, she had to be very careful with her actions. That thought still gave her chills and made her worry more than usual.

'I have to be extra cautious, I might even have to ditch George after all...I hate this.' She gave a side glance at the Slytherin table where Draco was sitting. He was chatting with his group of friends as usual, while Pansy Parkinson latched onto his arm like a flea. Melinda tried not to care, but it was hard to just shake the feeling off; it was no use. Melinda Valkyrie was liking Draco Malfoy, an obnoxious and mean boy whose family had a pureblood mentality and a hatred towards Muggles, Muggle-born and Half-bloods alike.

'I wish I didn't feel this way, I really did, but I can't help it...' Every time she tried to forget him, memories of that night, although vague, kept coming to her mind and intervening with her attempts to rid her thoughts of him once and for all. It didn't help that she was going to have his baby either; she was tightly bonded to him whether she liked it or not.

When finished with lunch, Melinda stood up and parted from her two friends to get ahead on some homework. She reached the Library within minutes and took a seat at a table corner before taking her materials out and textbook. She barely had her parchment and quill and ink out when someone suddenly sat down next to her. Melinda looked over and saw it was George.

"Hey." He said with a small smile. She blinked and smiled a little in return." Hey George, how are you?"

"Oh, not too bad. Listen, I was thinking that maybe we could hang out at Hogsmeade this weekend? You're going, right?" She slowly nodded. "Yeah, Andrea and Val want to go dress shopping then.." His eyes seemed to brighten up.

"Oh really? That's cool. So, I'll see you around there?" Melinda shrugged. "Sure, see you then." George gave her a side hug before heading off with a happy face. She watched him exit the Library and once again sighed.

'Maybe those two are right. Maybe George really does like me...' She thought before going back to her work.

* * *

The weekend finally came around, and countless girls were heading to the Hogsmeade trip to shop for the Yule Ball event. Andrea and Valerie were especially excited to go get their dresses, but Melinda wasn't so much.

Upon arriving there, they went to Gladrags Wizardwear, that although usually sold funny-looking clothes, they were now having an assorment of formal dresses and tuxes because of the Ball taking place at Hogwarts. That instantly attracted the students of course. The three girls went inside and over to the section with many different colored dresses in a wide variety of styles. Valerie went wild and on the first couple of minutes she already had at least five picked out to try on. Andrea looked more carefully, before selecting two she liked. Melinda browsed through all the dresses, but none seemed to please her.

"Didn't you find any you liked yet?" Andrea called out from the end other end of the section. "Uh, no not really." She half lied and continued to look.

'There's no way any of these will fit me, and they won't do a good job at hiding my baby bump either.' She thought, continuing to walk on. Valerie and Andrea then went to try on their dresses. While they did that, Melinda left that area and went off to the front of the shop where a display of a coral colored dress with too many ruffles, that was being worn by a mannequin that magically moved to advertise the product.

Looking out the window, her eyes then caught sight of a store not too far that was called 'Baby Witch.' She didn't recall taking notice of that store in the past years, but it wasn't just coincidence that it had caught her attention this time.

'A shop with baby stuff, maybe I could sneak there and find some cheap things to have already for when it comes-' Her train of thought was interrupted when Val called out to her.

"Hey Mel! Come see if this looks okay on me!" Melinda walked back to the changing rooms and Valerie pulled open the curtains. She was wearing a pale yellow halter dress that had an empire waist, and from there the rest of the dress flowed down to her feet.

"That looks pretty good." She commented, and Valerie grinned. "Really? I kind of like it too. I **love **how it just flows all the way down like this." She said before going back inside to try the other ones. Andrea then pulled her curtains to the side; she was wearing a lime green dress with forest green leaf designs all over, completed also by a sash around the waist of the same color.

"Wow Andrea, you look great in it!" She said, really liking her in that dress. Andrea smiled and blushed a little too, giving a small twirl of it.

"I really like it too, maybe I'll get this one." She then disappeared back inside the small changing room. Melinda felt a tinge of jealousy for not having as much fun as her two friends. She should be trying on dresses too, being excited for the Ball, talking nonstop about it like every other girl in school. But that was not the case for her; she had other things to worry about. Her eyes looked down to her stomach, being hidden by her long lapel coat in the color black.

About half an hour went by until the other two had chosen their dresses and paid for it. "Aren't you going to get a dress Mel?" Andrea asked and Melinda blinked.

"Uh, well, I think I already have a dress that I can wear." She said to try to escape any attempt of hers to force her into trying on any. She looked at her for a few seconds, narrowing her eyes a bit, before letting it go.

"Okay, if you say so." The three went off to the Three Broomsticks to get some refreshments, and found the twins there with their friends Angelina Johnson and Lee Jordan. George waved to them and got up to meet the three. Fred whispered something to the other two and they grinned.

" 'Ello lovely ladies. Care to join us?" He invited with a charming smile.

"We'd love to." Valerie responded, and the three went over to their table. Angelina and Lee greeted them as they sat down.

"So, how was dress hunting?" Fred asked, grinning a little.

"Splendid! We found the perfect dresses, didn't we Andrea?" Valerie said and she agreed. " Mine's pale yellow. I didn't think the color would look so good on me, but it did! Now we just have to find accessories to go with it. Oh! I might have a pair of earrings that matches!" Fred groaned when she started on it.

"Spare me the details. Unfortunately I'm not girly enough to sit through an hour of it." He joked and Val huffed a little while Andrea and Melinda chuckled at their friend.

"Didn't you get a dress as well Melinda?" Angelina asked, noticing she didn't have any bags with her.

"Oh, that's because I already have one that I'll use." Mel said, using the same excuse she used to the other two.

"I see." She nodded and took a sip of her butterbeer. Andrea called up Madam Rosmerta and ordered three butterbeers for Melinda, Valerie and herself. George kept glancing to Mel while the others talked amongst each other, until Fred nudged him.

"Hey, stop ogling her so much." He teased his twin, who flushed and gave him a slight glare. "I'm not doing that."

"Sure sure Georgie~" He patted his shoulder and drank his butterbeer. George shook his head, feeling a bit embarrassed for being called out like that by his brother. Melinda didn't really pay attention as she was once again deep in thought about that Baby Witch shop she saw earlier.

Madam Rosmerta came back with the girls' butterbeers. "Enjoy." She said with a smile and went off to tend to other customers. Andrea and Valerie began to drink it almost instantly, but Melinda didn't touch her mug for the moment.

'Should I drink this? I know it only has a slight bit of alcohol, but I'm still not sure if it's going to do any harm to my baby.' She thought, and decided to just leave it for now.

"So umm, Mel. Want to take a walk with me for a while?" George muttered to her while the others were distracted by one of the twins' inventions that Fred was showing off. Melinda blinked and nodded. "Okay." The two got up and headed outside. Some snow already covered the ground they walked on. George was very silent at first, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Melinda wondered what he was up to.

Finally, he spoke again. "You know, I was kind of afraid you'd say no when I asked you to the Ball. I'm glad you didn't." He looked at her with a smile. Melinda blushed slightly at that, and she began to feel a little guilty about thinking of ditching him on that night. George was her friend, and he definitely didn't deserve it, but was it worth getting discovered by everyone?

'I don't want to ruin the night for him or anybody else by exposing myself...' She thought. George had gone silent again, before he started to speak of other irrelevant things to lessen the awkwardness, which helped a little. They later returned to the Three Broomsticks and rejoined the rest who had suspicious looks or sly grins and smirks.

"Did anything happen?" Valerie whispered to her and Melinda shook her head. "No, why?" She sighed and just dropped it when she said that. Melinda looked out the window, and noticed it was beginning to faintly snow outside. It was times like these that reminded her of all the fun she used to have with her friends and the twins in the previous years. This year it was different, however. This year she had to think for two instead of one.

* * *

**I just want to say thank you for all the Reviews, keep them coming! Lol, it really means a lot to me that you're liking the story so far :3, so once again thank you very much.**


	8. A Gift

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

"Come _on_, are you sure nothing happened between you two?" Valerie insisted and Melinda sighed for about the fifth time she asked that.

"Yes I'm sure, Val. Why do you keep asking me that?" She gave a shrug and moved her fork about her plate.

"I just figured you didn't want to say anything if something _did_ happen out of shyness." Mel shook her head and took a bite of her egg roll.

"I don't think she'd hide it from us if that was the case," Andrea chipped in, eating some of her cereal before continuing. "We're best friends, Mel would never hide anything from us, right?" It was hard for Melinda to nod to that. Hearing Andrea say such a thing made her conscious grow with more guilt.

'Such a good friend I am.' She thought ironically. After they were done with breakfast, they headed out of the Great Hall and to the moving staircases to reach their first class. Valerie yelped when she almost missed her step as the stairs started to move.

"Ugh, I'll never get used to these things." The other two grinned a little and waited until the stairs connected to the next so they could move on. While they were walking down the hallway Pansy Parkinson, accompanied by two of her friends, came and purposely bumped into Valerie, making the books she was carrying drop to the ground.

"Watch where you're going, Thompson." She sneered and her two friends snickered. Val was about to say something back, but Andrea grabbed her arm and gave her a look. With much reluctance, she let it go and instead picked up her books.

"I hate that pug face and her friends." She said, with no intent to mask her anger. Melinda and Andrea exchanged stares before looking back at her.

"Yes, and so do most of the girls in this school, but you can't let her get to you." Said Andrea, to which Melinda nodded.

"But it's so hard! She picks on us and many others just because we're from another House, or we're _different_ or we're not **pureblood** like the rest of those snotty Slytherins, _ugh_!" She huffed in frustration before walking off. The other two hesitantly followed behind her.

'Parkinson is the one that always hogs Draco, and he doesn't seem to do anything about it. Could it be that he really likes her? Are they going out? Wait...why am I even thinking about this?' Melinda shook her head and took her seat once they got to the classroom.

About 20 minutes into History of Magic lecture, she heard someone behind whisper to her.

"Pssst, Melinda." She paused and slowly glanced back. A Gryffindor girl named Katie Bell then slipped her a folded paper from behind the desk. She took it without catching Professor Binns' attention, probably because he was too preoccupied in boring the entire class that was already half asleep. Andrea, who sat beside her, gave her a nudge and a tilt of her head to the folded paper. Mel shrugged and began to carefully open it up.

_Dear Mel,_

_I was wondering if you'd like to come out with me during lunch time. I have something to show you and I think you'll like it. Meet me by the fountain._

_P.S.: Please come :)_

_- George._

She blinked once she read it. 'What does he want to show me?' She thought, starting to get curious now. Andrea snatched the paper from her before she realized and read over the message. Instantly, a broad grin began to form on her lips.

At the end of class, she didn't waste one minute before telling Valerie about the letter George wrote to Melinda. Valerie gasped before giggling.

"That, my friend, is proof that he likes you." Said Andrea, lightly fist-bumping with Val as means to show Mel that they were right about him. She rolled her eyes at their gesture.

"Oh come on, this doesn't mean that. He could be trying to show me a new product that he and Fred are testing out to see if it would sell or not." The other two gave her a look of pity.

"Poor Mel," Valerie sighed. "So oblivious to the most obvious thing." Andrea lowered her head in fake shame. "Stop it you two." She grumbled a bit now and they blinked.

"You're just not wanting to see that it's true. I mean, if it really was about a product, then Fred would've signed the letter too, or they would've both just come up and dragged you off at lunch without prior notice." Andrea nodded. There was some truth to that, Melinda couldn't deny it. But still, the thought of George liking her made her worry.

'He's a nice guy and all, but I wouldn't be able to like him back, especially with my condition.' She thought with a bit of sadness. How she wished it had never happened. One time, one single moment of weakness, and her life had turned completely upside down.

The last two classes seemed to fly by faster than usual before it was time for lunch. Melinda's two friends were anxious for her to go meet up with George. They would barely let her grab a few bites of her food before ushering her off. She sighed and took at least one small sip of her orange juice before heading off to the fountain place.

It took about 5 minutes for her to get there, and already George was there, waiting for her. The moment he caught sight of Mel, his expression showed relief and he broke into a grin.

"Hey! I thought you were going to ditch me." He said jokingly. Melinda smiled a bit and shook her head.

"Now, why would I? You know me better than that." She said and he chuckled a bit.

"That's true. Well anyways, come with me so I can show you." He said and led her off to the bridge. The more they walked, the more her curiosity increased. What could he possibly want to show her? He finally stopped at about halfway into the bridge and turned to her.

"Okay, you ready?" Melinda nodded, and George then brought something out from underneath his school robes. She stared down at what looked like a small blue box.

"What's in it?" She asked without wasting a second. George grinned a bit and then opened up. Her eyes now looked upon a small crystal-like ball that had an even smaller silverish star glowing inside.

"Oh my, that's so pretty." She said in awe. That comment seemed to have pleased George.

"Do you want it?" He now asked, catching her off guard. "What? You're...giving this to me?" He nodded. "But only if you want it." Mel was at a loss of words now.

"But...why?" He found himself flushing a little and looked off to the side." Err, w-well, Fred and I were actually walking around Hogsmeade after you and the girls left, and we happened to go by a shop that sold some cool trinkets. We figured we'd take a look and found some neat stuff for our inventory, and then I saw this and thought about you. So I bought it-mind you it's nothing expensive or fancy, just a little something but, yeah..." He seemed a little awkward with his words now, something that didn't happen to George very often.

Melinda picked it up and continued to admire it in her hands. "I love this sort of stuff. Thank you, George." Without thinking, she leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek. His cheeks heated up, and his eyes brightened more than ever as he grinned stupidly.

* * *

"This is so beautiful Mel! If he gave this to you then he **really **likes you." Valerie said, looking at the gift she received from George with Andrea.

"I don't know.." She started, and Andrea had to roll her eyes at that. "Don't start with that again. To give you something like that..Mel, he's head over heels for you!" Melinda blushed and looked down at her lap while fumbling with the crystal ball between her fingers.

"You don't have to exaggerate.." Valerie gave a snort. "Exaggerate? That's the truth! George Weasley really likes you. Bloody hell, he might even **love **you." That only made her face go another shade of red.

"We've been friends for such a long time, why would he start this now? Anyways, I don't think I can return his feelings if that's the case..." The other two looked at her as if she had two heads.

"Hold on a minute, say that again?" Val couldn't believe her ears. "Are you serious right now, Melinda?" She looked up at them, uncertainty clouding her mind.

"How can you not like him? Not only is he good-looking, but he has a twin! Do you have any idea how many girls fantasize about being with a guy who has a twin?" She continued on.

"I wouldn't get with him just because he has a twin, you know that." Andrea nudged Val a little and she blinked. "What?" Andrea shook her head and looked at Melinda.

"Well, okay that's fine. But if you don't like George that way, make sure you don't lead him on because you might end up hurting his feelings in the end." Mel frowned as that was the last thing she wanted to do, especially to someone like George.

"I know, and I gave him a kiss on the cheek too, that probably wasn't a good-"

"You **kissed** him?" Valerie gasped and Andrea grinned. "Oh, that has to mean something Mel."

"I said it was on the cheek, and I didn't even realize it until later, it didn't mean anything..." She mumbled, starting to get flustered with all their comments and questions.

"Well, it probably was a big deal for him." Val then said, and Andrea nodded in agreement.

"Either way...I should tell him I'm not going to the Yule Ball-"

"Wait, you don't have to give up on the dance just because of this. Don't ruin the night for the both of you, just make sure you let him know afterwards." Andrea quickly said, afraid that they had made her change her mind on it.

"No, it's not that..." Mel began. "I really don't feel like going to it." Valerie sighed and leaned back. "Brilliant."

"Why not? It's going to be so much fun!" Andrea said. "Besides, you can't just not go, it's mandatory." She reminded her and Valerie sat up again.

"It is?" She looked at her. "Didn't you know?" Val shook her head, and Andrea sort of expected that. "Figures.."

"I seriously doubt they'll make me attend if I'm suddenly sick." Mel then said, shutting up both of them for a minute.

"But still...why would you pass up on such an important event?" Andrea started after a while of silence. Melinda was once again stuck on whether she should tell them or not. "I don't know, I'm just not feeling up to it. It's not a big deal, just a dance anyway-"

"No, it's not _just_ a dance. It's **the** dance." Val instantly interrupted. "The Yule Ball only happens whenever the Triwizard Tournament is around, and mind you, I can't remember the last time they did it. So yeah, it kind of is a big deal." Her words were much too passionate for Melinda to say anything meaningless about it again.

"Besides, it's an opportunity to hang out with your friends, have some fun while dancing and stuff. You know, we don't get the luxury of wearing fancy dresses at Hogwarts very often." Andrea then said, with a much softer tone than Valerie had done.

"I don't think I'd be able to fit in any dress..." Melinda muttered to herself. At that, Valerie raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about? You're not fat. Well, you have been eating more than usual, though...maybe you can go on a diet in these few days before the Ball?" Val suggested and Melinda tensed up a little, not meaning to have them hear that. Unlike Valerie, Andrea didn't think it was just a matter of putting off some weight, but there was something more to it for sure.

"Mel, is something going on that you're not telling us?" She asked, staring right into her friend's eyes. Melinda didn't know how to respond to it at first, and her mind wasn't working fast enough to help her come up with something. Her fingers began to fumbled even more with the small crystal ball.

"Come on Melinda, you know you can tell us anything. Look, no one is around right now, it's just us, your best friends." She continued, determined to pry the answer out of her. She frowned and looked down.

'She's right, they're my best friends...it's only right that I confide in them. Alright, I have to tell them or else I'll explode.' She thought before taking a deep breath.

"The truth is...I'm pregnant."


	9. Support

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J. . I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

"You're **what**?" Both exclaimed at the same time. It was such a shocker to the two girls, they couldn't help but give that kind of reaction. Melinda bit her lip and looked away.

"The rumors, they're true...I'm the one who got pregnant." She said in a low voice. Andrea and Valerie stared at her, at a loss of words after receiving such news. Their silence made Melinda even more nervous than she was before telling them.

'Did I do the right thing? Will they be mad at me now? Hate me? Not be my best friends anymore?' All sorts of things went through her head in a time span of two seconds. The two girls finally looked at each other, and Andrea was the first to speak.

"Oh Melinda...how did this happen? I mean...why didn't you tell us before?" She asked, her voice much softer now.

"I don't know, I was scared and nervous and...I just didn't know what to do." She blinked back tears that threatened to come out. Andrea frowned and leaned over, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey now, it's okay. We're here for you." She looked to Val, who snapped out of her short daze to look at Melinda.

"Y-yeah. We wouldn't be best friends if that wasn't the case." She got up and sat next to Melinda, wrapping an arm around her with a small smile. Andrea did the same on the opposite side of her. Melinda was so relieved that they were giving her support, she didn't know what would've happened it they had just turned against her.

"So, how long have you been, you know...?" Mel paused, before mumbling the answer.

"What? I couldn't hear that." Val said. "Four months...this is the fifth one, actually." She gasped a little.

"That long? Why didn't you tell us before?" Andrea gave a light slap to Val's arm and a look that shut her up.

"I was afraid you guys might turn your backs on me. I didn't plan this, it just happened...and we used protection too..." Andrea nodded in understanding, rubbing her arm a little.

"I see, it's alright Mel. You didn't have to be afraid of that, you know us better than that, right? We'd never abandon you because of that. But either way, that's that. You told us now and we're going to help you get through this, won't we Val?" The other Hufflepuff instantly nodded. Melinda smiled and hugged them both.

"I'm so happy to have two amazing friends." The other two grinned. "Yeah, we know." They said together and the three chuckled afterwards. About a minute later, Andrea dropped the question she was dreading to be asked about.

"So, who's the father?" Melinda once again tensed up. "Promise you won't yell or hate me or anything like that?" The other two looked at each other.

"Is it that bad?" Val mumbled uncertainly and Andrea rolled her eyes at her. "We promise we will do no such thing to you, no matter who they are. Now tell us." She pressed and Melinda sighed a bit.

"It's Draco Malfoy..." Hearing that name, both girls fell into dead silence. Mel slowly looked at both of them, and if she didn't know better she would've thought both had been hit with the Petrificus Totalus spell.

"C-come again? I think I heard you wrong. Did you say Draco Malfoy?" Val questioned and she slowly nodded. "Yes."

"**The **Draco Malfoy?" She kept on persisting until Andrea hissed for her to stop. Mel knew this all was very shocking to them, but might as well come out with the entire truth.

"So," Andrea began now. "How did this happen, exactly?" It took a little while for her to answer that, since it was about four months ago, and now she could barely remember anything.

"Well, it was one of those nights when I felt lonely, you know. Martha had gone home early to take care of her mother who was sick; I said she could. I didn't think I was going to get that bad." She mumbled, staring off at the fireplace where the burning wood would sometimes give a crackle.

"I got some floo powder and went to Diagon Alley. I don't know how, but I think I managed to enter a pub and order a few drinks...since I was drunk, I don't remember a whole lot, but I do remember Draco being seated opposite of me, him saying something, and then we were somewhere sort of dark and..." She didn't think she needed to finish off for them at that point. The girls stared at her still, digesting the information they had just received.

"So, it was like a one night stand? And with Malfoy on top of that.." Valerie mumbled. "...Was he good at least?"

"Val!" Andrea hissed and she shrugged. "What? I'm just curious." Melinda shook her head. "Even if it was, I wouldn't be able to remember it. It's just, blank." Andrea then looked at her with a serious look on her face.

"Mel, could this be the case in which he might've raped you?" She asked, startling Melinda a little. "What? No no, I don't think so...we were both drunk from what I recall, and I don't think I struggled against it either." She gave a hesitant nod when she said that.

"If you say so...does he know about it?" Mel shook her head. "No, and you won't tell him either." She instantly added with urgency. They both raised an eyebrow at that.

"Why not? If he's the father then he's got to take responsibility, Mel." Val then said, but Andrea was the one unsure now.

"Although I agree with that, we are talking about Draco Malfoy. One who thinks we're beneath him, whose family's all about preserving pureblooded witches and wizards. I can't even think about his reaction if he knew he got you pregnant at 15." She sighed. "I hate to say this Mel, but you really couldn't have chosen a worse person to get laid with."

She knew this all too well, because she has already thought of the things he might say to her, the things he might do; more than half of them were negative by default. Valerie was pursing her lips, thinking to herself now.

"I know he's horrible, but is it really fair to keep it from him? I mean, even though you both were drunk and didn't mean for it to happen, it happened. You have a baby inside of you. He has to know at least." Andrea was surprised at that.

"I didn't know you were capable of wise thoughts." She joked, earning a small glare from Val. Mel was in conflict on what to do again and leaned back with a heavy sigh.

"I'm so lost on what to do..." The other two tried to comfort her, seeing as they seemed to only make the matter worse for her.

"First thing's first, you have to take care of this baby growing inside you." Andrea said, looking to her stomach. "What about the rest of the school? They'll find out sooner or later. I can't hide my stomach for too long..." That was true, and neither of her friends knew the right answer to that.

"Well, for now let's just keep it between us. We'll figure something out after the Yule Ball's ov-" She cut herself as a thought came to her mind and she groaned. "Oh no." Valerie blinked and looked at her.

"What's the matter, Andrea?" She asked, and the brunette looked at her. "Two words, Val: George Weasley." At that, both Melinda and Valerie tensed up, but Mel seemed to have expected that to be a problem; she's been trying to deal with it for a while now, after all.

"Oh yeah! Gosh, that's why you were so hesitant on liking him, right? What he'd think of you if he knew, what if he-" Andrea leaned over and covered her mouth with her hand. "Quit blurting things out without thinking!" She growled, feeling irritated with her friend's ill sense of sensitivity towards Mel.

"I know, that's why I said I didn't want to go to the Yule Ball. I'd be exposed to the entire school like that..and he would no doubt hate me then." She sighed and looked down at the gift George had given her.

"I feel so guilty about it, George is a great friend, and I don't want to ruin the night for him..." The other two looked at her, feeling her distress and regretting not being able to give her any better options.

"Well, I think you should stick with that plan you had, to say you're sick and exempt yourself from the dance. We'll explain it to George, I'm sure he'll understand." Andrea smiled a little. "Don't you worry Mel, we've got your back." Valerie nodded to validate that, and Mel smiled a bit.

"Thank you." She conscious felt a lot lighter now that she had told the two, and they were willing to help her get through this.

'It's what friends are for.' She thought.

* * *

Melinda had a hard time avoiding George the week prior to the Yule Ball, especially since they were already on holiday break. Wherever she went, he seemed to be there at the same time. Andrea and Valerie couldn't figure out for the life of them how he was doing that. It was as if Melinda was being completely set up for this.

"He's _everywhere_!" Valerie exasperated, leaning her head against the table. Andrea shushed her and she blushed a little in embarrassment.

"Sorry." She mumbled in a lower tone. Melinda didn't say anything as she mindlessly ate some toast with jelly on it, only half listening to them.

'The more I see him, the less courage I have to ditch him. There's only a week left, but I don't know if I'll last until then...' She thought, taking another bite of her toast after sighing.

"Mel, you're smearing your face with the jelly." Valerie mumbled, trying not to laugh at how she looked. Blinking, Melinda quickly took a napkin and cleaned her mouth. She had been doing a lot of spacing out since the minute she found out she was expecting, but lately it had gotten worse as problems began to increase for her.

After breakfast, they headed off somewhere where they could talk with more privacy. Once again, Pansy Parkinson and her Slytherin gang of girls went by. It would've been a gift sent from God if she had just left the three Hufflepuffs alone, but luck was not on their side today.

" Well, look who it is: The Three Stinky Badgers." Pansy called out with a smirk and the other girls snickered. Valerie glared and Andrea rolled her eyes.

"Get lost Parkinson." Val suddenly smirk she had on suddenly disappeared and she stalked up to her, getting defensive. "What did you say, Thompson?" She asked with a hiss. Melinda and Andrea looked at each other, worried that something might happen.

"I said get lost." Valerie repeated, more firmly now. It seemed she had had enough of Pansy's insults at that point.

"Hah! Look at you, sticking up for yourself all of a sudden. You'll do well to shut your mouth and learn your place, you dirty half-blood!" Andrea's eyes widened and quickly grabbed Valerie before she tried to attack Pansy.

"How dare you! I doubt you'd be saying something like that if you knew what your _dearest_ Malfoy did-" Andrea quickly covered her mouth before she could go further and pulled her away. Melinda tensed up and Pansy raised an eyebrow.

"What Draco did? What did he do? Tell me Thompson." She demanded now. "N-Nothing, she's just saying that out of anger." Andrea quickly excused before taking a struggling Valerie away, Melinda following after them.

Andrea only let go of her once they were alone again. "What are you, crazy?" She questioned, her tone of voice dripping with irritation and some anger.

"What? I couldn't just let her insult me like that, I've had enough!" She said, frustrated herself.

"Yeah well, because you stupidly decided to act before you thought, you almost blew Melinda's secret to Parkinson!" She hissed back, and Valerie suddenly went quiet as realization hit her.

"Oh god...M-Mel I'm so sorry, I didn't meant to..." She frowned, feeling ashamed of herself now. Melinda sighed and shook her head.

"Forget it, at least Andrea stopped you before you said too much." She dismissed, though she was still a bit upset with Valerie's careless actions. The three girls just stood in silence for a moment, until Andrea spoke again.

"We best watch out with what we say now, especially near Slytherins like Parkinson. If word got out it will make things much worse." She stressed, and both girls nodded. Melinda didn't have a problem with that as she has been keeping this secret for months now. This was for her and her baby's own safety. It wouldn't be a far stretch to say that Pansy might try something if she knew about Melinda and Draco getting together one night, and the result of that was him getting her pregnant.

The girls then headed off to their Common Room, where they were at least safe from any confrontations with Slytherins. Arriving there, the three sat near the fireplace and tried to relax a little, but it was a difficult task for Melinda. After what almost happened, her mind wouldn't let her have a second of rest on the matter.

'Had Valerie blurted out the whole thing, she would no doubt have told the professors and tried to get me expelled. Thank god Andrea jumped in at that time.' She thought and closed her eyes. As before, she thought about how Draco would react if he knew about his baby growing inside of her. She tried to have better thoughts than the previous time, but it was nearly impossible given his attitude.

She opened her eyes as a memory suddenly came back to her from her second year.

_It was late November, and Melinda was strolling outside school grounds. There was a bit of snow already on the ground from last night. She was just walking with no real business to tend as she had just finished all her homework, when suddenly she heard soft crying coming from behind one of the pillars nearby. _

_'Who could it be?' She thought curiously, then slowly neared the pillars. Peeking around one, she was surprised to find a crying Draco sitting on the ground against the the third pillar down. He had his knees hugged close to his chest as he bowed his head down. She could see he was trying to be as silent as possible._

_'Why is he crying? Did something happen?' Before she knew it, he had noticed her there and quickly got up while drying up his tears._

_"W-What are you doing here?" He asked in a defensive tone. Melinda didn't know what to say at first, she just stared at him._

_"I um, was just walking by and heard someone cry-"_

_"You keep quiet about this, I mean it! If you tell anybody you'll regret it!" He threatened before rushing off past her. She blinked and turned, watching him walk off. He took one quick glance back at her before he was gone from her sight._

'It probably wasn't anything serious.' She thought and sat up. The other two looked at her as she did.

"I'm heading up to the dorms to rest a bit. Can you make sure to get me up before lunch if I'm not awake until then?" The two of them nodded. "Sure thing Mel, have a good rest." Andrea said and Val waved a little to her, still embarrassed for almost having revealed her secret.

Melinda then headed up the stairs and to the girls' 5th year dorm door. Going inside, she went to her bed and pulled over the yellow curtain around her entire bed. She then got into her bed and pulled the covers up. She wasn't exactly sure why, but every year since Draco Malfoy started attending Hogwarts, she had managed to stumble upon him at a moment of weakness at least once.

'It's odd, now that I think about it.' She turned on her side and closed her eyes to get some needed rest. All that's happened that morning just left her exhausted both physically and mentally. She hoped that, when she woke up for lunch, things would go a little smoother for her.

* * *

**Please R&R! I love it! :D **

**Thanks!**


	10. An Admirer and the Yule Ball

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

"Melinda, wake up~" Gently cooed Valerie. Her eyes slowly opened and focused in on her two friends standing over her with small grins.

"Merry Christmas!" They suddenly shouted and tickled their friend, who yelped and giggled.

"S-stop it you two!" She struggled to say between laughs. The other two finally seized and pulled back. Melinda sat up and rubbed her eyes. She couldn't believe it was already Christmas day, but that also meant that night was the Yule Ball. Like Andrea suggested, Mel was going to fake being sick while she and Valerie would explain to George and give her cover.

"Come now, let's open our presents!" Said an excited Val as she went to her pile.

'I hope he doesn't get too upset with me.' Melinda thought as she put on her long black robe while Andrea and Valerie already started unwrapping their presents at the end of their beds.

"Oh my goodness!" Valerie gasped as she set her eyes upon a very ornate mirror she had gotten from her aunt. Andrea looked over and admired its intricate designs.

"Wow Val, that's beautiful!" She said, in awe with the present. Valerie grinned and nodded in agreement.

"Yep, auntie always gives me the best presents!" She let out an excited giggle and continued to scavenge through her pile of presents and tear the wrappings apart. Andrea then opened a present from her mother and father, which was a jewelry set with jade stones to use with her dress for the Yule Ball.

"Oh my god, I have the best parents ever!" She squealed and the other two complimented on her gift. Melinda then opened one from her caretaker; it was a pretty neat hairpin in the shape of a lily flower. She opened the card that came with it.

_Dear Melinda,_

_Merry Christmas! I hope you like your present, I found it at a shop one day and thought it was something you would use. By the way, I heard about the Yule Ball and I hope you have a lot of fun with your friends._

_Love,_

_Martha_

'She's so sweet.' She thought and looked over the hairpin again.

"What's that you got, Mel?" Valerie asked, bringing Andrea's attention to her as well.

"Oh, it's the present I got from Martha." She showed it to them and they smiled.

"That's so pretty." Val said. "Yeah, Martha's a really nice woman." Andrea commented, thinking back to one of the summer breaks when she and Val spent a week at Melinda's house. It was before their fourth year started, and almost every night she would bring up cookies with milk for the girls to have at night before they went to bed.

"Good times." She mumbled to herself, going unheard by the other two. Next, Melinda opened the gifts the two had left for her. Andrea had gotten her a pretty scarf in different shades of blue, with tiny crystal beads on it. Val in turn, had given her a fluffy hat that when she put on felt very comfortable.

"Aw, thanks you guys." She gave them both a hug. They did the same when they opened the presents she had gotten them; Andrea received a silver bracelet with a ruby embedded in the middle, and Val got a pretty headband that could change to whatever color she wanted if she tapped her wand on it.

Melinda suddenly spotted another present she had not noticed before. Picking up the yellow box with a black bow on top, the colors of her House, she looked over to see if there was any tag or note that came with it. No such thing. Her curiosity began to rise and so she started unwrapping the present. Her eyes widened when she saw what was inside the box. It was a necklace with sparkling diamond teardrops handing off the entire length.

'Who could've sent this to me?' She thought, not even realizing the other two coming up to her and gasping when they laid eyes on the necklace themselves.

"Oh my god Mel, who gave _that_ to you?" Val immediately asked, wanting to know who was willing to spend that much money on a gift like that to her.

"I don't know, it didn't come with any card or tag saying who sent it." She mumbled, still in utter amazement at this present. Andrea and Val looked at each other, before staring at Melinda.

"Mel, do you think that maybe George gave this to you?" At that, Mel looked up at them. "George? But...I don't think he'd have the money to get this." The other two fell silent as that was true.

"Then, maybe you have a mysterious admirer?" Val tried. Andrea nodded a bit, thinking it was possible, and Melinda thought about it. Just who could that person be?

'This curiosity will kill me.' She thought with a small sigh. After having opened their presents, they got ready and headed down for breakfast. The Great Hall was decorated with twelve towering Christmas trees, as it has always been. There were also chains of holly draped about along with mistletoes and other ornaments. Real live fairies danced around the trees, a well known decoration Hogwarts used every time the holiday came around. On their way there, the suits of armor that had been charmed sang various Christmas carols.

As part of the plan, Melinda tried to seem like she was feeling sick, so maybe George would notice and her being absent from the Ball would make sense afterwards.

"Don't eat everything, act like you don't have much of an appetite." Andrea whispered to her. "Oh, and lay your head down like you're tired." Val added in. Melinda did all those things while the two secretly kept an eye on George to see if he would notice. He glanced to their table and seemed to have caught sight of Melinda. He raised an eyebrow and said something to Fred, who also looked over. The other two looked elsewhere, busying with their food.

"Mel, I think he noticed you're not 'feeling well'." Andrea said very quietly, after checking to see that the twins weren't looking anymore. Melinda glanced to her and nodded a bit. Her stomach growled and she sighed a bit.

"Why don't you go back up to the dorm? We'll bring you some food later." Andrea suggested. Thinking that was a brilliant idea, Melinda headed out of the Great Hall.

"Mel!" George suddenly called out to her as he came out of the Hall after her. He went over to her and she got a little nervous.

'Oh great.' She thought, hoping she could get past this without him noticing her act. She turned around and gave half a smile.

"Hey George." She greeted 'weakly'. "Hey, are you feeling alright?" He asked and she gave a small sigh.

"Not really, I didn't sleep very well last night, and when I woke up I felt kind of sick." She mumbled. George gave a slight nod.

"I see...well I hope you feel better for tonight." He stated with a hopeful tone in his voice. Melinda's conscious began to pound on the back of her head. She tried to ignore it in order to properly respond to George.

"Yeah, I hope so too...but in case I don't, you won't be mad at me will you? I really don't know how I'll be until then..." He blinked and instantly shook his head.

"No, of course not. It's not your fault if you're sick. If you don't get better until then it's fine, I'll just hang around with Fred and Angelina. It's no problem Mel." He assured her and she felt even worse, because she was almost certain she could detect a bit of hurt in the way he said that.

'He's such a nice guy...ugh, I hate myself.' She nodded and smiled a bit more.

"Thank you for understanding George. You're a great friend...I better go lay down now." She said before taking her leave. Upon getting to the Hufflepuff girls' dorm, she sat on her bed and heaved a heavy sigh. She just felt terrible for lying to George like that, but if she didn't, things could get much worse.

'And to think I'll have to open my game with the professors soon...my stomach will only grow more from this point.' She glanced to her nightstand where that yellow box she received as a present was. Picking it up, she opened it and looked at the beautiful diamond necklace, wondering once again who could've given such an expensive thing to her.

'Could it really be George? Or an admirer like Valerie said? If so, who could it possibly be? Surely someone with a lot of money because this...this has to cost at least 300 galleons.' She held the box in her hands for a good time, before putting it in a safer place.

About 20 minutes later, Valerie and Andrea returned with some sweets that Hogwarts usually served during the holiday.

"Here you go, the best Hogwarts has to offer to a mother-to-be." Valerie joked, handing over the plate to Mel who greedily took it and started to eat right away. Andrea gave Val a warning look.

"Watch what you say, sometimes the walls have ears." She blinked before nodding sheepishly. Melinda didn't seem to care as all she wanted to do was eat.

"Slow down Mel, you're going to choke like that." Andrea teased once she saw her stuff her face. Melinda blinked, gulping down what she had.

"I can't help it, I'm just so hungry~" She whined. The other two shook their heads. "Must be great to have such a large appetite." Andrea mumbled.

"Yeah, but then she'll have to lose it all afterwards." Val reminded her. Melinda shrugged at that. "Won't be that hard. I'll probably be up all night trying to take care of the baby." She mumbled. Val and Andrea nodded as that was probably true. Babies had a knack for keeping parents up and busy with them for a least the first week or two.

"Hey Mel? Did you already think about what you're going to do after it's born? You know...are you going to finish off this year? Continue or stop altogether?" Andrea suddenly asked. Mel thought for a moment and shook her head.

"I haven't given much thought. I'd like to at least finish this year, that is, if I don't get expelled before that..." The other two looked at each other before sitting beside Mel and wrapping an arm around her.

"We're here for you." Andrea said and Valerie nodded. "Yeah, and if they try to expel you, we'll protest, threaten a process on the school, I don't know, something like that. Anything to try and convince them to let you stay." That was a little humorous to Mel and she gave a light chuckle.

"Thanks you two, that makes me feel better." She said. The other two smiled.

* * *

It was 4 PM and the girls were all up in their dorms getting ready for tonight. Melinda continued with her act of being sick to convince the other Hufflepuff girls, just in case. Val and Andrea were there for support while getting ready themselves. It wasn't until 7:30, that the girls began to head down to meet their dates.

"Alright," Andrea said when all the other girls had left and it was only the three of them in the dorm now. "So we're going to go down and find George first to tell him you're too sick to attend." She draped a dark green scarf over her arms.

"Oh, and don't worry about the professors. We told Madam Pomfrey in advance that you were feeling sick and wouldn't be able to attend the Ball, so she said to get some rest and check with her tomorrow morning if you were 'still ill'." Val added in. Melinda nodded while watching the two. They looked very beautiful for the dance; she just wished she could join them in the fun too.

"I don't think anyone will come check up on you, but just in case stay in the dorm until it's over." Andrea advised.

"Alright, I get it. Now go on and have fun." Mel said, ushering them out with a wave of her hand. The two bid her goodbye before heading off. Sighing, she looked out the window nearby her bed. Light snow was falling from the dark night sky. A single star was glowing up there, and it reminded her of the gift she had gotten from George.

'I hope you still have a lot of fun without me, George. You deserve the best.' She thought. When the clock struck 8:05, she began to hear faint music coming from the Great Hall, a sign that the Ball had just begun. Melinda tried to imagine how everything was, from decoration to how everyone looked.

'Everything must be magnificent there. Too bad I can't take part on it. Oh well, no use moping over it now.' Mel spent about half an hour in the dorm, before going down to the Common Room and sitting by the fireplace. The music had gotten louder, no longer a classical tune, but rather a rock n' roll style. She recognized one of the songs as being _Do the Hippogriff_, by the Weird Sisters.

'God, I love that song. I wonder how Andrea and Val are doing...are they having a lot of fun? And George...' She thought. Staring at the fire for a few minutes, she suddenly got a wild idea. She carefully made way out of the Common Room and past the kitchen area. The elves were too busy working nonstop with preparing more food, so they didn't notice her go by. The music had gradually gotten louder as she went on. She just couldn't help herself. Even though Andrea had told her to stay in the dorms, something just told her to go ahead and do it.

'I better be very careful.' She thought, not wanting to bump into any student, or worse, any professors that were acting as chaperon scouting the castle for any students that had sneaked off. No sooner did she think that, when she suddenly heard Snape's voice coming from around the corner. She quickly hid herself behind a large pillar. His voice grew louder as he neared, but there was someone else talking with him. They rounded a corner just before reaching her hiding spot. She breathed normally once their footsteps grew faint and disappeared.

'That was close.' She peeked out before moving on. Melinda almost made it to the bottom of the Astronomy Tower's stairs when she had to hide behind a wall again when she heard two very familiar voices.

"But Draco I-"

"Save it, Pansy. You need to stop hogging me all the time, it's annoying." Draco said, the tone sounding both exhausting and irritated.

'Are they having an argument?' Melinda thought as she continued to eavesdrop.

"I don't get it. Lately you've been avoiding me, brushing me off when just last year you and I were fine. What the bloody hell has gotten to you?" She asked, not able to mask the hurt in her voice, but there was also some anger.

"Nothing! You're overreacting. You just need to give me space to breathe sometimes, you're way too clingy." He said as an excuse.

"Hmph! Fine, do whatever you want!" She said. Mel heard the sound of tapping heels rushing off. She waited a few minutes.

'Is he gone too?' She thought. Since she heard nothing, she deemed it was safe enough and walked out from behind the wall, but she suddenly bumped into none other than Draco. Startled, Melinda stumbled back a bit. Draco looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What are you doing here, Valkyrie?" He questioned. Her heart started racing and she began grow tense, not able to say a word yet.

"Were you eavesdropping, huh?" His eyes then took notice of the way she was dressed and a look of confusion replaced his previous annoyed one.

"Hey, why aren't you wearing a dress or something?" Melinda blinked and looked down at herself. She had her black robe on, having changed earlier that day since she had no intention of going to the dance.

"I-I was feeling sick..." She managed to finally say. He looked her over again.

"Huh, you don't look so sick to me." He commented and leaned closer. Her eyes widened a bit and she leaned back. She didn't estimate how far she could lean back before she started to fall. Fear struck her instantly, and the safety of her baby came to mind right at that instant. Before she knew it, Draco had grabbed her arms and pulled her forward against him. All happened so fast, it took a moment for Melinda to register everything in her mind.

After she finally came to terms, Mel slowly looked up at him. He looked surprised at what he had just done. Melinda herself was shocked, but glad that he had saved her from a nasty fall that could've possibly endangered her baby's life. But suddenly, she realized something that made her terrified. His hand had suddenly lowered to where her stomach was, and he got a puzzled expression. She dreaded what was to come next.

"Valkyrie, are you..."


	11. The Truth

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

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"Valkyrie, are you..." Melinda suddenly pulled away from him before he could finish that off.

"I, uh, I have to go." She excused and quickly headed off, but he followed after her.

"Hey, wait a minute! Come back here!" She picked up pace, praying she could reach the Hufflepuff Common Room in time before he caught up to her, but no use. Before she could even get past the kitchen, he grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. She didn't look directly at him.

"I'm thinking here, you already know some of my secrets, I think it's only fair that you tell me some of yours too...so we're even at least." He said, more calmly now. Melinda shook her head and tried to pull away, but he kept a tight grip on her, and even got a hold of her other arm.

"Valkyrie, are you the one that's pregnant?" Draco asked now. She frowned and looked down, not bothering to struggle anymore. That silence seemed to give him the answer, and he gradually loosened his grip on her.

"If you're worried that I'm going to tell...you don't have to be." She was surprised at those words and looked up at him. He stared right at her with a serious expression.

"Like I said, you already keep some things about me, and I doubt you've told anyone, right?" She slowly nodded. "So then, I'll do you a favor. I promise I won't say a word to anyone about this." He completed. Melinda almost thought she was hearing things. Could Draco Malfoy, the prince of Slytherins, the one who is mean to everyone outside his House, really be promising such a thing to her?

"Why? Why are you doing this for me?" For a moment, he seemed to open his mouth to say something, but it seemed as if he changed his mind that second and gave her an annoyed look.

"Didn't I already answer you that? You know some dirt on me, so to keep it even I'm going to keep this piece of information quiet with me...unless you go out of line and force me to tell the entire school." Melinda instantly shook her head.

"Good, then we have an agreement." Although she was glad he wasn't going to spread it to the others, what difference would it really make? She would have to tell the professors sooner or later, and by next day it would instantly leak to the rest of the students, no doubt.

'Maybe...maybe I should tell him now, since he's here.' She suddenly thought. What Val had said before about him still being the father and deserving to know sort of got to her, and she began to think about actually trying to tell him again.

"Well, I should head back to the Ball before the bloody professors start looking for me." He mumbled, starting to back off when she suddenly grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Wait." Draco paused and looked back at her. "What now?" Melinda looked right at him, making Draco a little uncomfortable and unnerved under her stare.

"Remember back to the beginning of the school year, when I said I had something to tell you?" She asked. He was silent for a moment, trying to think back.

"That was when you ran into the boys' lavatory and threw up, right? Yeah I remember. You never did tell me whatever you had to say." He mumbled, remembering the events now. She nodded and let go of his arm.

"I want to tell you now, and since you had promised to hear me out and not think what I'm about to tell you was impossible, you're still keeping that promise right?" Draco raised an eyebrow and gave a shrug.

"Yeah sure, whatever. Just get on with it." She didn't say anything for a few seconds, trying to muster all the courage she could.

"This baby I'm expecting...it's yours."

* * *

It felt great on her conscious to have finally told Draco about the baby, after so many months in agony and doubt of whether to do so or not. But since that night, he has been avoiding her at all cost. A week had gone by since the Yule Ball, and there were only a few days left before school would start again. Melinda had told her friends what happened, and Andrea didn't waste a second before scolding her for having gone off when she had told her not to.

"See? That's why you should've listened to me! Only god knows what's going to happen now." She had said then, and Melinda agreed with her in her mind. Draco's reaction to the news wasn't something she was expecting. After she had told him, he just turned and left without another word.

'He hasn't told anyone, I know that for sure or else it would have spread around like wildfire already...he must not want people to know about this, naturally.' Mel sighed, staring at her Astronomy book. She almost wished he had gotten angry and told her off; for some reason his silence bothered her more than anything.

"Mel, shut that book, you've been staring at it for more than 20 minutes already." Andrea said with a heavy sigh. She looked up, then closed the book and set it aside. Valerie looked at her with pity in her eyes.

"Man, I can't imagine how you must be feeling Mel...he didn't say anything?" She shook her head. "Not a word...I'm starting to get worried." Andrea got up from her bed and walked over, sitting by the edge of Melinda's now.

"Don't stress over it, it could be bad for the baby. Whatever happens, you know we'll be right there with you until the end." She said. Melinda smiled a little and hugged her. Valerie came over as well and hugged them both.

"We're three best friends, who will always be there for each other." She said, the other two silently agreeing.

About two hours later, Melinda went out for a small stroll, and ended up stumbling upon George. Luckily for her, he believed on the girls when they told him she was too sick to go to the Ball with him. He had assured her the next day that it was all fine and that he still had fun; she was glad for that.

"So, what's the plan for today?" He asked her once they coincidentally met outside. She gave a slight shrug.

"I don't have anything planned really. I'm just taking a small walk." He nodded. "Then, mind if I walk with you?"

"Not at all." She nudged her head forward as she started to walk, and he followed after her with a grin. They were silent for a while, until George began to speak.

"This holiday sure flew by fast, huh?" He asked. She nodded and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her coat.

"Sure did. Not really looking forward to starting classes again." He chuckled. "No one is." Mel smiled a bit. They soon came upon the lake, which was still frozen.

"Melinda, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead." She said, looking to him. George turned to her, and something on the way he looked told her whatever he wanted to ask was serious business.

"Do you...only see me as a friend?" That had certainly caught her off guard.

"W-what?" He blushed and looked down. "I know I might be being too forward here, but I have to know." She simply didn't know what to say to that.

'Do I think of him as more than a friend?' She questioned herself. Sure, George was a great friend, and he could probably be a great boyfriend too. However, Draco kept popping into her mind, and what happened on the night of the Yule Ball still shook her a little.

"I...I don't know George. I've never thought about it before." Was the only thing she could think of to answer him. Although it wasn't exactly what he was wanting to hear, he still looked hopeful.

"Well, how about you think about it for a bit? You can answer me later." She hesitantly nodded. "Okay..."

"Alright, then I'll see you around then." He turned and left back to the castle. Once he was gone, Melinda groaned and sat down on a boulder.

"Things just keep getting worse..." She said to herself.

"Do they?" Someone said from behind her. She quickly looked back, and she thought her eyes were deceiving her when she saw Draco Malfoy standing there.

"What are you doing here?" She couldn't help but ask. He came to stand beside her now, staring off into the lake.

"I came to talk about what you said to me, at the night of the Ball." He answered. At that, she began to get nervous all over again. Was he going to finally blow up on her? He was looking way too calm, considering how he usually behaved.

"Are you sure it's mine?" Draco came to ask after a moment of silence had gone by. She stared at him.

"Yes, I'm sure." Melinda responded, and he looked down to the pebbles on the ground. Before she could stop herself, she went on.

"That night at the pub in late August...we got drunk, and other things happened after that..."He was dead silent as she said this, but his face seemed to get a little more paler.

" I can't believe this." He muttered to himself. She frowned, a little hurt by what he said, but it wasn't as if she didn't expect it.

"I wish it wasn't true, but it is. You're the only guy I've ever..." She sighed. "Look, if I could change things I would, but I can't. What's worse is that we used protection, so I don't even know how..." Draco got a strange look on his face and he looked away. Melinda was confused by that.

"...What's the matter?" She asked, and he didn't answer her at first. She was beginning grow more tense with his silence. Draco then began to speak again.

"Actually, that night...since we were drunk and all...when I said I had protection on..." Mel was paying close attention to him now.

"...I lied. I didn't have any." He mumbled, and all seemed to make more sense then.

"S-So you lied about having it? Then, this didn't happen because of some failure of the thing but...but you yourself caused it?" He looked taken back by what she said, and stared at her with wide eyes.

"Hold on a minute, I said I was drunk! I didn't know what I was saying o-or doing!" He said defensively. Melinda was at a loss of words now. She knew the drink was the influence, making them both commit a stupid mistake, but all the same it could've been prevented if he just...

"My family will kill me.." She heard him whisper worriedly. She felt so upset now, she barely cared what his family would do to him. The two stayed there saying nothing again for the longest time. Draco finally stared at her again, and he noticed she was very put off by this revelation of his.

"Why didn't you tell me before? Why-" He started, only to be cut off by her.

"I didn't want you to be pissed off at me, call me a liar or anything like that or worse. You think I wanted this to happen to me? When I found out I wanted to cry! This wasn't what I wanted for my life, to get pregnant at 15 while still at school. Do you even know what I've been through? What I _still_ have to go through? It's too much!" She let out, not able to hold it inside her anymore. Draco stood silent as she blurted all those things at once.

"I was scared, I didn't tell anyone for months until I finally decided to confide in my two friends. Thank god they're giving me support because if they weren't I'd be a wreck now...to keep this secret for so long is hard and soon, soon...they'll all know." She turned away from him, not wanting him to see that her eyes had started to water.

"Valkyrie I-" She didn't let him finish, yet again.

"I had plans, I had a future ahead of me, and I have to change it all because of that one night when you showed up at that pub...god, why did you go there?" Her voice had gotten softer as she spoke. Draco didn't say anything. How could things have turned so upside down for them?

"...About your family, maybe you shouldn't tell them...maybe you should just pretend this baby doesn't exist, I'll take care of it by myself." She suddenly said. In reality, she had given some thought to that, just raising the baby by herself. It didn't seem real to her that he would actually help out.

"What?" He didn't even mask the tone of surprise there.

"It's obvious why, isn't it? Your family's...complicated. You yourself are complicated. I don't want to be threatened by your parents, or have them think I'm after your money or something. I don't care about things like that." Melinda didn't know why she was saying so much right now, but her mouth just kept running off, and Draco took it all in without interrupting once.

"Look, I just want to have my baby and be able to raise it well, and I don't think that'll happen if you tell your parents about it. This is probably best-"

"Are you out of your bloody mind?" He finally cut her off. Blinking, she looked back at him.

"Out of my mind?" She questioned, and he seemed to be upset.

"Yes! Do you really think I'll agree to that? I know...I know I made a mistake, I know we have our differences and I know my family won't approve of it, but it's still my baby too! I'm not just going to pretend it doesn't exist when it's growing right here." He said, placing his hand upon her stomach now. She tensed when he did.

"I'm not ready for this at all. You're 15, and I'm not even that yet, but...I've been giving it some thought, and I'm not going to be a coward about this. I'm going to help whether you want it or not." His words sounded so sincere, it was hard for Melinda to not believe in them. She's never seen Draco like that before, speaking so maturely and saying things she would never dream of him saying.

"Are you serious right now?" She asked, half expecting him to say it was just a joke and laugh at her face for actually believing in it.

"I'm dead serious, like I've never been before. Valkyrie...Melinda," He decided, switching from calling her by her last name to her first. That certainly was a big change for her.

"I promise I'll do what I can to help you, alright? It's the least I can do..." She couldn't hold her tears in anymore and they slipped down her face. He looked shocked to see them falling down her eyes.

"D-Don't cry Melinda." He said gently, pulling her into a hug. She let out a sob and wrapped her arms around him, welcoming the embrace.

'I can't believe this is happening. Am I dreaming right now? Is he really saying all this to me?' It seemed almost too good to be true.

"I'll do what I can, but...you have to promise me you won't say anything about me being the father to anyone." He suddenly said. Melinda paused, pulling away from the hug.

"I already told Andrea and Valerie, though..." That made him curse under his breath.

"Well, make sure they keep their mouths shut about it. This will be between the four of us, and no one else. At least for now, understand?" Melinda hesitantly nodded.

"Great, so...when is it due?"He awkwardly asked, and she looked down at her stomach.

"Some time in April."


	12. Exposure

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

There was only one day left of the holiday break, before classes would return. Melinda's clothes barely fit her anymore, and she couldn't just keep getting them re-sized.

"I think it's time, Mel." Andrea said, staring at her stomach that had grown so much since the first time she and Val were told by their friend that she was pregnant. Melinda sighed, knowing all too well she was right.

"Yeah...will you two go with me?" She asked hopefully. The other two looked at each other, before looking back and nodded.

"Of course we will." Val said now, and Melinda began to relax a little.

"Ok, so how about after breakfast we go have a talk to Professor Sprout? Since she's the head of the Hufflepuff House, it's only fair that we tell her first and then Dumbledore." Andrea suggested. Mel and Val thought it was a good idea, so they got ready and headed down to the Great Hall.

Melinda was nervous for what was to come, but her mind also kept reminding her of the conversation she and Draco had a few days ago. She had told Andrea and Valerie what went on, and they themselves almost didn't believe in what she said.

"Are you **sure** you weren't just dreaming?" Val asked her then, to make sure it was actually real.

"I'm sure, I even pinched myself." Was her response to that.

As the three sat down at the Hufflepuff table, Melinda began to remember back to the New Years celebration that took place just three days ago.

_**Flashback**_

_All of the students had gone outside to watch amazing fireworks, put together by some of the staff. Everyone was in awe and clapped or sang and drank some butterbeer that was courtesy of Madam Rosmerta. Melinda was with Andrea and Valerie at the time, but the fireworks barely fazed her compared to that day at the lake. Draco's willingness to help her out with the child was a great shocker to her._

_After the display was over, and they all began to head back to the castle, someone pulled Melinda aside from the rest. She turned to look back, and came face to face with Draco himself. For a moment she didn't speak, surprised to see him there. He pulled her further away from the rest so they wouldn't be seen together._

_"What are you doing?" Mel finally asked. He looked over her shoulder; no one seemed to have noticed their disappearance. He then focused on her._

_"Listen, are you going to tell the professors about this?" He asked, and Melinda was the one silent for a while._

_"...Well," She began. "I'll have to, I mean if I don't they'll figure out by just looking at my stomach." Draco looked down a little and gave a hesitant nod._

_"Okay, but don't you reveal to them the part about me being the father, understood?" _

_"I know..." She quietly said. He then sighed a little and pulled her into a light hug._

_"A-Anyways, Happy New Year." He muttered. That made her smile a little._

_"Happy New Year." Mel said back, and really hoped that despite all their problems, it really would turn out to be a very good year for all of them._

She returned to reality when Andrea called her name for the third time.

"Sheesh, you really need to stop spacing out so much." She half teased, and received a weak smile from Melinda.

"Sorry." She brushed it off and continued with what she was trying to tell her.

"So, we finish up here and go directly to Sprout, got that? No backing away from this, you have to ge through this as it's now or never." She stressed. Valerie nodded in agreement.

"Yeah Mel, might as well get it over with now than let others discover for themselves and make up rumors again like last time."

"I know, I won't chicken out of this. It really is time to tell them." She said, but wished there was an easier solution than that. If telling Sprout and then Dumbledore led to her being expelled, how was she going to take care of the baby? Draco would still be in school, and there was a possibility that her caretaker Martha might quit on her.

"Don't you worry, we'll be there with you every step of the way." Andrea told her. Nodding, Melinda force-fed herself some toast with butter, downing it with some apple juice. About 20 minutes later, they got up and went to find Professor Sprout, who was most likely in the Green House.

It took about ten minutes to get there, and sure enough the plump professor was there, watering her plants and humming a song.

"Oh! My three lovely Hufflepuffs!" She greeted once they came in. "How have you been?"

"We've been alright, professor." Andrea responded with a small smile. "But um, we need to talk to you about something..." Sprout blinked when she said that.

"Is that so? Well, what is it then?" She questioned, putting the watering pot down. Andrea and Valerie looked at Melinda, and she slowly approached the confused professor.

"Professor Sprout...I have something to tell you." She mumbled, looking down to ground.

"What is it dear? You sound so serious..." Biting her lip, she then opened up her coat to reveal her pregnant stomach. Sprout gasped and stumbled back, almost falling on her bottom.

"Oh dear! Goodness gracious Miss Valkyrie, oh my dear girl..." She said with a tone of great pity.

"I-I'm sorry professor, I didn't mean for this to happen..." She said, her eyes already starting to water. Sprout frowned and moved forward, bringing her into a comforting hug,

"No no my dear, don't cry now. We'll figure something out, I promise." She said gently, caressing Melinda's hair. Val and Andrea were relieved that Sprout was such an understanding woman.

"But now dear, we must go tell the Headmaster. He ought to know what to do about this." She said, pulling out of the hug. Already expecting that to happen, she nodded her head, and the four of them instantly headed to his office. They reached the gargoyle statue, and Professor Sprout said a password.

"Lemon Drops." The statue started to move to reveal a staircase, and they got on. Melinda's heart began to pound hard against her chest; she was just so nervous about what might happen to her.

Sprout brought them to the door and knocked. They heard the Headmaster's voice call for them to come in, and so she opened the door and they did. Dumbledore looked up at them and gave a warm smile.

"Welcome ladies, have a seat if you will." He said, motioning his hand to the chairs already set for them. The girls looked at each other before taking their seats. Professor Sprout preferred to stay standing, and she fidgeted a little bit.

"What do I owe this splendid visit?" Dumbledore asked, and they didn't say anything at first.

"W-Well, Headmaster. The thing is, we seem to have a bit of a, err, _situation_ with Miss Valkyrie here." Sprout said awkwardly. His eyebrows raised to be above his crescent moon glasses.

"You see, she has, well...why don't you show him, dear?" Sprout told Mel, and she slowly got up. She did the same thing she had done with Sprout and opened her coat to reveal her stomach. Dumbledore stared, but he didn't seem to be surprised.

"I see...Miss Valkyrie, you may sit back down." He said, and she did as told after closing her coat. The girls were very nervous to know what he was going to say next.

"Are you going to expel me?" Melinda quietly asked. Dumbledore blinked, and seemed to think for a moment.

"Have you conceived that child in school grounds, Melinda?" He suddenly asked. She shook her head right away.

"No sir. It was during the end of summer..." He folded his hands together.

"Hmm..." She bit her lip; this suspense was killing her. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Dumbledore put his hands down on top of his desk and spoke again.

"I see no reason to expel you from this school. You have not broken any rules on school grounds, as you have said it happened during the summer. I am not going to punish you for something that was probably not planned, am I correct?" Melinda nodded, and was relieved that he was letting her stay.

"Thank you so much Headmaster." She said gratefully. He smiled a little. "You're a bright student and it would not be fair of me to prevent you from getting your education."He looked to Sprout.

"Ponoma, I want you to inform Poppy about Miss Vakyrie's condition and have her make any needed arrangements." Sprout nodded and went off to do just that. The three girls remained staring at the Headmaster.

"Melinda, I trust that you know there will be a few hardships you will have to face from here on." The young girl gave a nod. "But do not fret my dear, you will have the professors' support, my own, and surely your friends, yes?" Andrea and Valerie nodded right away. He smiled at that, and looked back to Melinda.

"Then, you have nothing to fear. There will be some changes to your schedule as you near your due date. When would that be?"

"April, sir." He nodded. "Ah yes, a fine month. As you near your due date, we will come to discuss once more about some needed arrangements. The professors will be notified, and if you feel anything, any pain whatsoever, you must go immediately to Madam Pomfrey. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Melinda answered. He then stood up from his chair, flashing a warm smile again.

"Now, you are all free to go. Enjoy the rest of your day as tomorrow you will be back to classes, I trust." There was a playful twinkle in his eyes, and the three Hufflepuff girls then got up and left his office.

"Phew! That was better than I expected. I'm so glad you get to stay!" Valerie hugged Melinda, who grinned a little.

"Yeah, Dumbledore's the best." Andrea agreed, smiling herself. "He's even going to help you out, see?" Melinda nodded at that. "Yeah, he's really nice. But what he said about the students..." She suddenly muttered. The other two looked a little worried themselves.

"There will be a lot of talk, but don't you worry Mel, we'll snap at whoever makes fun of you or dares to be mean. We'll be especially bitter with the Slytherins if they try something." Valerie vowed to her friend. Although that was comforting to her, Melinda was still unsure how she was going to handle being stared at and judged by the others.

'George will surely be disappointed.' She thought with a small sigh.

* * *

"Come on Mel, we'll go down together. Like Dumbledore said, the rest will find out anyways, so might as well face it already." Andrea coaxed a nervous Melinda. She was dressed in her re-sized uniform, but this time there was no way to conceal her grown stomach.

"We'll be there with you at all times." Valerie promised, and Melinda took a deep breath.

"Okay, I think I'm ready now..." The other two nodded, and pulled open the curtain around her bed. The other girls that were getting ready to head down for breakfast instantly gasped as they saw Melinda's pregnant stomach.

"Oh my lord!"

"Oh dear, Melinda!"

"Hey, shut up! So what if she's pregnant? Don't you dare judge her!" Valerie snapped at them, and they fell silent. Melinda looked down to the ground with a small frown.

"Listen up, Mel didn't plan this, it just happened. She hid it from everyone because she was afraid we'd judge her, and really I don't blame her for thinking that way especially after that nasty rumor started going on." Andrea said. "But we are Hufflepuffs, we need to give her all our support, especially now when she's most fragile and in need of our help." The other girls looked at each other. Then, one of them stepped up to Melinda.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this, it must be tough...don't worry Mel, you can count on me." Said Yasmine Tibbet with a smile. Melinda looked up and smiled as well.

"Thank you, Yasmine." Another one also stepped up.

"Yeah, this is a little shocking, but...you must've been through a lot already, and I'm not about to make it any harder for you. You can count on me too." Giselle Harold told her, and even gave Mel a hug to which she returned. Every girl in the 5th year dorm ended up giving their full support to Melinda.

"Thank you all so much, it really means a lot to me to have you guys backing me up." She said, almost tearing up. Andrea and Valerie were glad it had gone well, at least in their dorm anyways. There were still the rest of the Hufflepuffs girls and guys in the other years, and of course the rest of the school.

'We're going to make this work for her, no matter what.' Andrea thought, determined. Some of the girls in the dorm went to talk to other girls in different years, trying to get as much support as they could for Mel. Of course, she didn't expect everyone to give her strength; there would almost certainly be a few that would still look at her weirdly or think badly of her.

'It's alright, so long as they don't do it to my face.' She thought, heading out of the dormitory with Andrea and Valerie. Upon getting down to the Common Room, those that were there suddenly went quiet as they descended. The silence bothered Mel, but she sucked it up and held her head high. The three began to walk through the lounge and towards the exit, when a girl suddenly came up to them.

"How could you do this? As if we weren't overlooked enough, now there's a stain in the Hufflepuff name because of you." She bitterly said to Melinda. Valerie was about to tell her off, when Cedric Diggory suddenly came up to them.

"What are you going on about? How can you say such things to her?" The girl looked at him, shocked. Cedric stared at her with hard eyes.

"You should be ashamed of yourself. As a Hufflepuff, you should treat your other mates with respect and give them support when they need." He said. Feeling embarrassed, the girl looked to Melinda and gave a shy apology before backing away. Valerie stood frozen, but in great admiration for Cedric after he stuck up for Melinda like that. Cedric looked up at her, before stepping up and putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Do not worry, I have your back and so do most of us. We're not going to make it hard for you when you're probably already going through a lot." Melinda couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you, Cedric." He smiled himself and nodded, pulling away. The three then continued on to the Great Hall. Now they had to face a much bigger crowd, but Melinda already felt like she could do it. She was really happy to see her fellow Hufflepuffs doing her such a big favor, and she knew then why she felt so proud to be in that House.

"So far so good." Mel commented softly, and the other two nodded, linking their arms with hers.

"It'll be alright Mel." Andrea said, lightly patting her arm. She looked at her, and they both smiled. They took the moving staircases to reach the Great Hall, and before they could reach the doors, George was standing outside, waiting for her.

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**Once again, thanks to all who are reviewing this story, I really appreciate it, and hope you liked this chapter! A little news here, I'm in London, England! *squeals* Yes, I'm in Harry Potter's country 3 I'm loving it. However, my time here's short and I'll be soon moving on to Paris and then Rome. Well anyways, just wanted to share that little detail *finds it ironic she's writing a HP story when she's in the country of its origin x)***

**Cya!  
**


	13. A Jealous Star

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

'Oh no.' Mel thought when she caught sight of him. The other two were also nervous about what he was going to say to her.

"Keep calm, Mel. It'll be alright." Andrea assured her in a whisper. She nodded a little and the three approached George, who was looking directly at Melinda's stomach.

"I heard about it not too long ago..." He said once the three had stopped in front of him. Melinda had no words to say to him at that moment, but she could feel he was disappointed in her.

"Listen George, it wasn't Melinda's fault. It was an accident." Valerie instantly said, but George didn't give her any attention. Then, he finally looked up at Melinda.

"I'm just upset that you didn't tell me before. Don't you trust me enough to confide in me?" He asked her, and she looked down with a small frown.

"I'm sorry..." Was all she could say. Sighing, the Weasley twin turned and went back into the Great Hall.

"Don't worry, he'll get over it. It's normal for him to feel a little put off since he likes you." Val told her, but that didn't really make things any better in Mel's opinion.

"Well, let's get this over with." She said, the other two nodding and then entering the Great Hall with her. Almost instantly, talking seized in there and eyes were now staring at the three of them. Melinda tried to look indifferent of their stares as she and the girls made way to the Hufflepuff table and sat down. It didn't take long before whispers began to go around the tables.

"Yeah, it's Melinda Valkyrie. She got pregnant at 15, can you believe it?" Said one Ravenclaw to another.

"I heard she was just giving it to the first who passed by the street." Sneered a Slytherin girl to a couple of her friends as they passed by the Hufflepuff table to get to theirs. Valerie wouldn't take for that and stood up.

"Hey, shut it! You don't know anything you little-"

"Val!" Andrea hissed and pushed her to sit back down. Melinda could only sit there, quiet. Cedric watched her, knowing she was upset with the feedback from the rest of the school. Even the foreign students from Bulgaria and France were gossiping about her pregnancy.

"Oui oui, she eez very bête to get pregnant like zat." A Beauxbatons girl commented to the person sitting next to her. Melinda lowered her head even more, and her two friends tried to comfort her.

"Hey!" Cedric suddenly shouted. He stood up at the end of the table, catching everyone by surprise, but their attention was solely on him now. The 6th year competitor looked at all of the students with a hard look on his face.

"I won't tolerate if any of you speak ill of my friend because of her condition. It is not fair that just because something like this happened you ought to start talking about her in such a manner...and whoever does will have to answer to me." He declared. Melinda was shocked at this sudden attitude of his, but Valerie was almost melting.

"Oh, he's so admirable~!" She said to herself with a dreamy sigh. Andrea herself had to admit that Cedric was being very honorable and kind. After having said that, no one talked for a few moments, but Dumbledore stood up and began to clap. The other professors hesitantly followed suit. Then, the twins stood up and clapped themselves, getting the rest of their House to gain courage to do the same. Soon enough, the entire student body was clapping and whooping, minus most of the Slytherins who were very hesitant on it.

"Marvelous, Mr. Diggory!" Said Dumbledore with a smile. "A wonderful example that all should follow. Remember students, It is not one single action that determines the character of a person. Everyone can make mistakes." He said wisely once they seized clapping.

"Now, let us enjoy breakfast, shall we? Before you all return to your studies that I am sure you have all missed dearly this holiday break." He said cheekily and sat back down. The rest took it as a sign to sit as well, and they resumed their breakfast. Melinda mouthed a 'thank you' to Cedric and he nodded with a smile before getting back down. His friends began praising him for what he did.

"See? You got Cedric **and **Dumbledore backing you up. Can't get better than that." Valerie commented, still completely gaga over Cedric's speech. Andrea rolled her eyes a little and slapped her upside the head.

"Ow." She mumbled and Melinda smiled a little. It was nice having friends that gave out support like that. Cedric was starting to become a real idol to Melinda, who originally thought that he was just a pretty boy.

'If only Draco was like that...what am I thinking? He never would have done something like that for me.' She thought, shaking her head a little and eating some of her breakfast. What she didn't notice was that George kept looking over in her direction throughout the entire meal.

* * *

"What is that Diggory boy trying to do, huh? Advertise you?" Draco asked her, pretty upset with what happened earlier that day. Melinda stared at him as he continued to rant off about how he didn't like Cedric doing what he did. It was about 6 PM and almost time for dinner. Melinda had received a letter from Draco by owl to meet him at the Astronomy Tower later on, and now here they were.

"What's wrong with what he did? He's trying to help me get some support, unlike someone." She muttered the last part to herself. That earned a glare from him.

"You know I can't do that, I'm in Slytherin! If they found out I'd be done for." Mel leaned against the railing and stared at him still.

"I know, but you don't have to talk about it with your friends." She argued back. Melinda had found out that he was participating in some pretty mean comments being done about her. At that he tensed up a little, but only for a moment.

"Tch, I have to keep acting as if I normally would, don't be so sensitive about it." He muttered. Mel frowned and moved away.

"If that's all then I'm going." She said, already heading to the stairs. Draco faltered a little before grabbing her arm to stop her.

"W-Wait a second." She looked at him, her expression showing impatience. He noticed and got a little nervous.

"Look, I know it seems bad, but you should overlook these things. I already said I'm going to help you out somehow." That still didn't seem to convince her.

"Yeah, some big help you are." Mel said sarcastically before pulling her arm from his grasp. He was dumbstruck for a minute, then went back to his snotty attitude.

"Fine, you're going to act like that? So be it." He turned and walked down the stairs while Melinda watched him.

'What a brat, he just wanted to have the last say I'll bet.' She thought, staying up there for a minute longer before going down as well. It didn't take long before she bumped into the twins. Fred waved to her with a grin, while George awkwardly looked elsewhere.

"Hey Mel, how's it going?" Asked Fred, despite his brother's attitude.

"Err, it's going." She decided to say. He nodded before looking to her stomach.

"How far are you?" She had to count in her head in order to answer him. "About 6 months." Fred grinned wider and then placed his hand on her stomach.

"Wow, you're so big already." That made Mel flush a bit in embarrassment. George watched his brother with a mixture of confusion and surprise. Fred wasn't at all upset like he was with her not telling him about it.

"Sweet, you better make me his uncle or something." He joked, then bid her goodbye and left her and George alone in the hall. There was silence between them, and the awkwardness increased. He scratched the back of his head a little and finally looked at her.

"Erm, Mel?" Melinda looked up at him. "Yes?"

"Can we talk for a minute?" He asked. She hesitated, but then nodded her head. The two went off somewhere more private. They stopped near a hallway with rows of columns and sat down on one of the benches there. Mel hoped that he wasn't as upset with her as before.

"About earlier, sorry about being a bit of a jerk..." He started off, looking down to the ground.

"I was just a little upset that you didn't tell me about it before." Melinda stared at him, hoping that that was a sign that he was giving some sort of white flag.

"I know, I'm sorry too. It's just...this is so hard to admit. It took months before I told Andrea and Valerie about it too." She sighed a bit. "I was scared that you might be mad at me and not be my friend anymore." He seemed to flinch a little at the word 'friend.'

"I guess I can see your point, it really must be difficult." He mumbled, looking down to her stomach again.

"I felt really lonely for the first few months, keeping this a secret from everyone for as long as I possibly could." Mel bit her lip, preparing herself for what she was about to tell him next.

"Truth is, George, at the night of the Yule Ball I...I faked being sick. But it wasn't to not go with you, goodness no." She quickly said. "I just didn't want to be exposed to everyone on such a night. I didn't want to ruin the dance for you either by doing so..." George stared at her, shocked at first that she had lied to him. However, after having explained herself, he seemed to soften his expression.

"I see.. I guess it was a legitimate reason." He said more quietly. "But Mel, something has been bugging me about all this." She looked at him with confusion.

"What is it?" George stared right at her then. "Who is the father?" That was a question she had hoped no one would start asking her, because almost instantly Melinda tensed up.

'I can't tell him, I made a deal with Draco.' Was her thought, but what would she say to that?

"Well uh, I was pretty drunk so I can't really remember much..."She decided on, which was indirectly true. The ginger haired boy seemed to consider that a lot before finally accepting.

"I suppose, but are you sure that you were not...taken advantage of?" He asked carefully. Mel instantly shook her head.

"No, that I know for sure didn't happen." She said. He nodded a bit and then looked ahead. The wind was the only sound being heard at the moment. Melinda wondered if that had convinced George enough for him to fully forgive her; she didn't want their friendship to grow weak because of this entire ordeal. She didn't notice George's hand moving over until she felt it on her stomach. Mel looked down, then at him.

"Whatever happened, I don't think it matters much right now. What does matter is this baby you're going to have..." His hand caressed her tummy with a small smile. For some odd reason, it made her blush when he did that.

"Mel, if you need anything don't hesitate to ask me. I can try to help you with whatever you need." He said to her, making her relieved.

"Thank you George, thank you so much for understanding..." She leaned over and gave him a side hug. It surprised him at first, but he returned it almost right away with a slight grin.

"Of course, I'm an understanding guy." He responded, half joking. She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. The two stayed like that until it was time to head off to dinner.

* * *

"I'm glad George didn't stay mad at you, this makes things much better." Andrea said to Mel the next day when she told the girls what happened. Valerie was quick to agree.

"Yeah, I mean I would think he'd still be upset with you not going to the Ball with him..."She mumbled, yelping after receiving a hard nudge on the side from Andrea.

"Whatever, you guys are on good terms, right? That's all that matters." The brunette told Melinda, who nodded at that.

"Yeah, I'm really glad he's not mad at me. I was afraid I'd lose his friendship with this..." The three then continued to eat breakfast before gathering their stuff and heading off to their first class of the day. On the way there, Valerie was complaining about her schedule being switched so she now had Potions right after lunch instead of before.

"Ugh, I swear this has got to be the worst arrangement ever. What if I get sick? You know how some of those potions we make can come out smelling pretty bad." Andrea smirked a little.

"You're out of luck then." Val stuck her tongue out at her for that. Melinda shook her head at the two and continued on until they got to Charms class. Professor Flitwick almost instantly greeted Melinda.

"Miss Valkyrie! How are you this fine morning? Well I hope? Oh yes, do take a seat! We don't want you to exhaust yourself." He said in his giddy way. Melinda blinked at this sudden attitude of his.

'I guess he's being more careful now that he knows I'm pregnant.' She thought, brushing it off and taking her usual seat with the other two. The rest of the students then filed in once the bell rang, and the lesson commenced from where they had left off last semester.

As the class neared its end, Melinda couldn't help but feel eyes on her the entire time. That made her a little uneasy, but Andrea and Valerie were there to give her some reassurance.

"I wonder if Snape will be any different with you now." Val suddenly commented, even making Andrea curious about that.

"Yeah, wouldn't it be funny if he was just as careful with you as Professor Flitwick?" That made the three snicker at the thought.

"I doubt it, he'll probably act the same as usual." Mel said, finding that more probable. Valerie shook her head.

"You know how some pregnant women get upset with the slightest things sometimes? Even if you don't feel sensitive, you should take advantage that you're like this and fake it so it'll seem like his fault that he made you that way. It would be so hilarious if he freaked." She grinned. Andrea shook her head, but the thought was quite amusing to her as well.

"We'll see." Melinda said. When it was time for Potions class, the three girls were curious on how Snape would act with Melinda now that he knew she going to have a baby; they were half hoping that he would go little easy on her because of it. They got to the dungeons and took their original seats. Professor Snape was sitting at his desk, but he did not look at them just yet.

Once all the students came in and the last bell rang, he stood up and instantly the room went dead quiet. He slowly walked up to the front of his desk, one hand behind his back, and gave his cold and unnerving stare to everyone. Snape then laid his eyes on Melinda and they stayed on her, as if he had marked her as his target. He made a direct walk to her desk, and stopped right in front of it.

"Miss Valkyrie. I was instructed by the Headmaster that, due to your current _condition_, you are not to partake in any harmful potion making. Unfortunately, this semester we will be handling quite a few of those. Therefore," He said, almost smirking. Melinda knew right then that she was not off the hook, and that he would probably make things as difficult as he could for her.

"I have prepared a few assignments for you to work on while you are incapable of handling potions." He revealed the arm he had hidden behind him, and in his hand was a very thick stack of parchment papers.

"These will be the assignments you are to accomplish while in your state. You should have the first four of them done by the end of this class." Andrea and Val couldn't believe their eyes; the stack was nearly as thick as their textbooks! Melinda wanted to crawl up in a ball and cry, but she knew that complaining about it would do her no good.

'I knew he wouldn't go easy on me. He found a way to make Potions even worse than it was before...' She thought in dismay. Snape went back to the front of the class, and as usual gave very vague instructions on their next potion to brew.

* * *

"God, it's unbelievable he did that! He is being so unfair!" Valerie complained, still baffled that Snape would make Melinda do such heavy duty written work; essays were not Val's strong point.

"Well, it's Snape we're talking about. We should've seen it coming, actually." Andrea mumbled, eating a piece of chicken from her dinner plate. Melinda sighed and just gave a shrug.

"It's whatever I guess. I'm ok in Potions anyway, I don't think it'll be that hard to write a couple of essays." Valerie almost chocked on her drink.

"Not hard? Mel, your hand will hurt like a Bloody Mary scream after doing it for so long." She said with an incredulous look. The other two looked at her weirdly, then resumed their eating.

'At least I have Astronomy to look forward to at nine.' She thought. Melinda loved the class, looking at the stars and studying their names, as well as the planets and constellations. They even inspired her to start choosing a name for her baby. Be it boy or girl, she was trying to find one for each that she would think suitable for her child. Not to say, Draco was named after a constellation, and so were a lot of his family.

'Why not keep their tradition at least?' She thought. The girls went to their Common Room to do all their assignments for the next day and chat while they had free time. Valerie, although adamant on thinking that they ought to report to Dumbledore about Snape being a douche, decided to make Cedric that night's topic once again. Andrea, sick of hearing her talk about him 24/7.

"Give it a rest, for goodness' sake Val!" She blurted out, being annoyed with her constant dreamy sigh whenever she said his name, or her overly excessive comments on his appearance and character.

"Shut it, you would be doing the same if you were as in love as I am." She stated with a pout. Andrea sighed and shook her head. Melinda barely paid attention to their conversation, her mind being on Draco and how he had acted the previous day.

'It was almost as if he was jealous of Cedric.' She thought, but the possibility of it being true seemed near zero for her. Perhaps, the real reason he was upset with it was because he didn't like that she was getting too much attention due to her being pregnant. He could well be worried that somehow people would soon find out that he was the one that knocked her up...by mistake, of course.

'Yeah, that has got to be it,' She convinced herself. 'He's annoyed and worried that this is getting too much publicity, to the point where they'll start getting comfortable enough to ask questions like George had done...I have to be more careful.' She looked to the clock, and it read 8:25 PM. There were still a few minutes to go before Astronomy class started, but she decided to go on ahead to the Tower anyway.

The sky looked especially beautiful that night. It was a clear navy blue, with little to no clouds covering the bright stars that sparkled up there. The moon itself was out and letting its light shine down upon the top of the Tower floor.

'Amazing.' She thought, mesmerized. Her eyes locked on one small star that had caught her attention almost right away. It sort of reminded her of the star inside the small crystal ball that George had given to her as a gift. The star she was looking at now had a name that was an option for the baby's name, if she had a daughter. Her eyes then trailed over to another star, with a potential name for her son.

'Should I even discuss this with Draco? Or would he not care about the name?' Mel suddenly thought, curiously. Malfoy didn't strike her as the type to care about such a thing, but since they day he found out about the baby last December, he was acting rather odd. The clock struck nine, and Professor Sinistra came up and welcomed her students.

"We shall pick up where we left off with the charts. Off you go with your telescopes." Melinda had already set up hers, so she only had to take out her chart and continue working on it. She didn't know why, but she wanted to make sure that her chart was very well done, so Mel had been working extra hours with it. Andrea glanced over to her and blinked.

"Well, over achiever much?" She teased her. "Your chart's coming off really good, Mel." At that, the Hufflepuff girl grinned.

"Thanks, I don't know why but I just have this urge to have it well done." She told her. Nodding, Andrea went back to her star observation, and so did Mel. Time seemed to pass why so quickly, that Mel almost barely noticed that it was 10 PM and that they had to return to their dorms.

'Only a week and a half left before February comes in. Then, it'll be about 2 more months until the baby comes.' She thought while heading to the Hufflepuff Common Room with Andrea.

"I'm so tired." The brunette commented, yawning a little even. Melinda glanced over to her. "You sound tired." She lightly teased, causing Andrea to smile a little. Both met Valerie in the Common Room waiting for them so the three could head up to the dorm together.

"How was Astronomy?" Val asked, receiving a shrug from Andrea. "It was alright, had to work on our charts today." She gave a fake grin at that.

"Oh boy, that sounds like so much **fun**!" She said with a girly, high pitched voice that made the other two cringe.

"Don't ever talk like that again." Warned Andrea while she opened the door to their dorm. Val pouted, then shrugged and headed inside followed by Mel.

"Okay. I was thinking that we could go off this Saturday to Hogsmeade." Andrea quietly said as she took a seat on her bed. The other girls were already asleep, so she had to lower her voice.

"Why? We have a Hogsmeade Trip?" Val asked, receiving a nod back.

"Yep, and while we're there, I was also planning on going shopping for baby stuff. I heard there was a shop named Baby Witch. How about it Mel?" That was no foreign name to Melinda, and she smiled as she remembered seeing it that one snowy day.

"Yeah, sounds good." Was her answer. The three got ready for bed, and bid each other goodnight as they laid down to sleep. The last few thoughts in Melinda's mind was the Hogsmeade Trip coming up, the stars with the unique names, and of course, Draco Malfoy.

* * *

**bête - stupid, silly, idiotic, foolish. Whichever definition you prefer ;)**


	14. Dilemma

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

Coming the 25th of February, the students went outside to witness the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. The Hufflepuffs, naturally, were in high hopes for Cedric to come out in first place. The Gryffindors were the same way for Harry Potter, and the rest divided themselves however they wanted. Melinda noticed that there wasn't as much hostility towards Harry from her House, and that came as a relief to her. Another bonus, was that since the school's discovery of her pregnancy, and the speech Cedric gave, the rumors and bad mouthing began to dwindle fairly quickly. Quite a few had already come up to her to ask her questions, such as how she and the baby was doing, or if she knew the gender yet; they were being very civil and nice to her now.

'I have Cedric and Dumbledore to thank for that.' She knew that they were the most influential people in making things easier for her. She had not spoken to Draco since that day when he complained about Cedric, and frankly she didn't really care if he was keeping quiet. In turn, George started acting normal around her again, though it took a little time for him to do so. Fred had told her that he was just very shocked when he learned that she was with child, but that it wouldn't be long until he came around again; so he did.

'Things are better than I thought they would be.' She thought while staring down from the stands where the competitors were waiting for the the task to begin, them all dressed in swimming suits for this. About two weeks prior to the second task, Valerie had told Andrea and Mel that she had overheard Cedric talking to a few of his close friends on how he managed to open the egg from the first task in the water while taking a bath, and how it then clearly gave him the clue to what the second task would be about.

'They must be nervous...well...at least Harry looks like he is.' Melinda couldn't help but feel a bit of pity towards Potter, after all it didn't seem as if he wanted this at all. She found it was very hard to believe in the rumors about him asking an older student to place his name in the Goblet of Fire, wanting to be the center of attention. No, she thought the opposite. It seemed to her that Harry Potter wanted nothing more than to be disregarded at this point. In the past years, since he's gotten into Hogwarts, all the odd and dangerous events that happened were somehow linked to him, and she was almost sure that he wasn't fond of being part of them at all. She was brought back from her thoughts when Dumbledore began to speak.

"Welcome to the second task! Last night something was stolen from each of our champions. A treasure of sorts. These four treasures, one for each champion, now lie on the bottom of the black lake. In order to win each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough. Except for this, they will have one hour to do so and one hour only. After that they'll be on their own." He announced. There was some talking amongst students as to what could the treasures of the champions possibly be.

"You may begin at the start of the cannon." Dumbledore finalized. The cannon was raised in the air, and then fired. Right then, the champions dived into the chilling water. A minute or so passed of them being there, but suddenly Harry Potter jumped out of the water into the air, then flipped and dived back into the lake as the crowd cheered for him.

"Cool trick!" Andrea commented, clapping herself. Valerie rolled her eyes and muttered something along the lines of 'show off.' A while passed since they have gone into the black lake, but soon enough one of the champions surfaced back up, gasping for air.

"The Beauxbatons champion, Miss Delacour, has unfortunately been forced to retire. She will take no further part in this task." Dumbledore announced in the loud speaker, while two of the Beauxbatons girls helped Fleur out of the water, putting a towel over her freezing body. Everyone was anxious for the others to show up, wondering what was going on in the depths of the lake, who was going to come up first and with what kind of treasure.

"Oh, I really hope Cedric wins first place." Valerie muttered, leaning further against the railing.

"You'll fall down if you continue like that." Andrea teased her, earning a small snort from the dirty blonde. About 30 minutes went by, and finally two people surfaced back up; it was Cedric with Cho Chang! The crowd, most notably the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, began to cheer loudly for them.

"Why did it have to be _her_?" Val moaned and sighed. Andrea shook her head at her friend.

"Just be glad he came out in first place-look, it's Krum!" She suddenly shouted in the midst of her sentence. Viktor Krum had also surfaced up with Hermione. The crowd went wild and chanted 'Krum, Krum, Krum!' Now the only one left was Harry.

"Oh my, that Beauxbatons girl looks a little pale." Said a Ravenclaw girl beside Andrea. The Hufflepuff trio looked over and, sure enough, she and a couple of her friends were looking to the lake with a worried look; Fleur was white as a sheet. Some 25 minutes went by and nothing of Harry...but suddenly, two people emerged from the water. They were Ron Weasley and a blonde girl. They coughed up water and were helped up on the deck by a Beauxbatons girl. Right as the last few minutes began to go by, Harry flew out of the water, landing right on the decking where the crowd was. Many gasped in surprise, before cheering and clapping for him.

"Harry!"Dumbledore was surprised himself. "I want all the judges over here now!" He hurriedly said, and so the judges went to meet up with the Headmaster to talk.

"He saved two people, that has got to be a bonus for him!" Andrea said, impressed by Harry's performance and Melinda nodded in agreement. Fleur Delacour was thanking Harry and kissing him on the face for having saved her sister.

"Attention! Attention!" Dumbledore called out a few minutes later, and everyone went quiet.

"The winner is...Mr. Diggory!" The Hufflepuffs went wild with cheers.

"Yeah, Cedric! Wooo!" Val cheered louder than anybody, causing her two friends to laugh a bit at her enthusiasm.

"For showing unique command of the bubblehead shark." Dumbledore finalized, before proceeding with the next announcement. "The way I see it, Mr. Potter would have finished first, had it not been for his determination to rescue not only Mr. Weasley but the others as well. We have agreed to award him second place! For outstanding moral fibre." It was the Gryffindors' turn to cheer for their classmate, while the Durmstrang boys weren't very happy for them having placed Viktor in third place, when he should've been second.

"Well, at least Cedric earned his first place." Val shrugged, not really caring about the rest. Melinda shook her head, but thought it was well deserved for Harry. The students began to come down from the stands to congratulate the champions before returning to the castle to have their classes.

"Ugh, they are so lucky they don't have to go to classes..."Andrea grumbled, talking about the Triwizard Champions. Melinda gave a shrug to that as it didn't really matter to her.

"It's the rules~" She lightly teased. Andrea stuck her tongue out at her, then continued on to their classroom. While they were walking, Mel caught a glimpse of Draco coming up from the side. He caught her eye, and they stared at each other for about three seconds before breaking contact. She didn't know exactly what that meant, if there was meaning to it at all. Trying not to think about it, she entered the room with Andrea and Valerie and took her usual seat.

* * *

"Hey Mel!" George called out as he ran up to her while she was headed to the Great Hall with her two friends.

"Oh look! I forgot to check out a book for a Potions homework! I'll be back soon." Andrea quickly said and headed off, dragging Valerie along with her. Mel was a little confused by that, but her attention turned back to George when he reached her.

"So, I didn't get a chance to talk to you this morning. How are you doing?" He asked, glancing down to her stomach for a second.

"I'm doing alright." Was her answer. "How did you like the second task?" At that, he got a grin on his face.

"It was rather interesting, wasn't it? Harry being awarded second place for his 'moral fibre' was pretty amusing to me and Fred." She gave a shrug at that.

"Yeah, but I think he deserved it. He didn't have to save two people, but he did it anyways. That shows great character." The red head nodded.

"Of course, but 'moral fibre'? Couldn't they have come up with something better, like 'courageous act'?" He said, jokingly. She chuckled a little at that; he always knew how to make the mood livelier, even it if wasn't bad in the first place. Lately, she has been noticing a lot of things about George, things she had not really paid attention to before. Obviously he was funny, and a downright troublemaker along with his twin brother. However, she started to realize that he was also caring, kind, loyal, understanding and even loving. These qualities she has been discovering in him began to stir some strange feelings inside of her.

'What is going on with me?' She had thought when this began to occur. George Weasley was becoming the kind of person that she was loving to have around to talk to, to joke, laugh and many other things; it was stronger than it was before. Whenever he demonstrated how he cared about her, or whenever he did some light teasing, she felt her cheeks heat up. And whenever she saw him blush, she found it to be quite cute. Melinda didn't really know what this was, but it was causing a bit of a disturbance with her sentiments, more so those she had for Draco.

"Anyways, how is the baby doing?" He suddenly asked, staring again at her overly large belly.

"Um, it's doing alright, no complications or anything." Mel said. He nodded and now smiled a little.

"That's good to know, make sure you take good care of yourself and the little guy in there." The way he said it with so much care in his voice had her blushing once again. She mustered a smile after he said that.

"Of course." George then looked up at her. "Mel...remember what I asked you a while ago?" She was confused by what he meant, and he seemed to know that because he became more specific.

"About if you saw me as more than a friend or not?" It now clicked and she fell silent, only able to give him a nod.

"...Do you think you know now?" This next question took her completely off guard. What was she supposed to say? Her face heated up even more, her throat going dry, and oddly enough her heart was beating a little faster than usual.

"Uh, I...I didn't really, well..." She stumbled on her words, not able to think through it fast enough to deliver a more complete phrase. Everything just became jumbled up in her head now. George continued to stare at her, but he soon began to give in.

"If you don't know yet, you don't have to answer just yet...I can wait." He glanced over as more people began to come up to enter the Hall, so he decided to cut it short then.

"Well, I'll talk to you later then." He leaned over and gave her a small peck on the forehead, before turning and going into the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table. She froze in place, paralyzed without words to speak after that. A few looked at her a bit strangely as she was just standing there in the middle of the hall with a lost look on her face. That seemed to bring her out of her stupor and she slowly turned and walked away from the Hall, to a more quiet place where she could hopefully be alone for a while with her thoughts.

'It can't be that I'm starting to like him, can it?' The possibility of that happening had crossed her mind before, but she never took the time to actually think it over thoroughly. A considerable amount of debates began to fester in her mind.

'Well, he's a much better option than Draco, but...I'm going to have a baby. There's no way he'll want to date me if I have a kid, right?' But even as she thought that, the fact that George had mentioned about him asking her if she saw him as more than a friend again had her doubting that he cared if she had a child or not. Then, the next doubt popped into her mind.

'What if he finds out Draco's the father? He wouldn't want to be with me then, there is just no way.' Now, that thought actually clogged into her mind and was stuck there for the longest time as she stopped when she got outside and sat down on a bench. Even though part of her knew that would be the case, she couldn't help but also think that perhaps George would be able to overlook that notion to be with her still. The last thing she began to question was how she felt about the Slytherin Prince.

'My heart beats every time he comes around me, that has to mean something. Do I like him? Love him? That night at the pub, I didn't know any better, and neither did he so...why do I feel this way?' She heaved a sigh; all these questions without definite answers didn't help her at all. She wanted nothing more than to find someone or something that would be able to tell her all she needed to know. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she didn't even notice someone coming up to her.

"What are you doing out here by yourself? I thought you'd be in the Great Hall getting some lunch." She was a little startled when the person spoke from behind her, and she looked back to see who it was. Melinda was surprised to find that it was Cedric. She was quiet for the first few seconds, before she came to herself.

"Oh, that, I'm not feeling very hungry." She said as an excuse. He stared at her, before going up and sitting down next to her.

"Do you think that's wise? After all, you are expecting a baby. You shouldn't skip any meals." He advised, making her feel a little embarrassed. She felt like a kid being lectured, but that lifted when he gave a small chuckle.

"Sorry, I suppose I might be sounding a lot like a nagging parent or something of the sort." She smiled a little.

"No, not at all. You're absolutely right. I better go eat something, at least." She said, already standing up. He watched her with his grey colored eyes.

"Valkyrie, I mean, Melinda..." He switched. "I just want you to know that, if you're having any problems during this period of time, just let me know and I'll see what I can do to help you out, alright? I know this may sound odd coming from someone you don't regularly talk to, but I like to help, especially a fellow Hufflepuff like yourself." She stared at him as he said that, deeply touched by his words.

"You've already helped me out so much by giving me the support I needed, thank you Cedric. I really appreciate your kindness." She said sincerely. The 6th year Hufflepuff smiled brightly and nodded.

"Anytime, Mel." After that, Melinda bid him farewell and headed off to the Great Hall to get herself some food.

'I need to focus on my baby. It'll be born in about two months, so I can't be careless now...right, no more thoughts about George or Draco or any wishy washy feelings that I might have for them. It's all about my child now.' Determined with that thought, she reached the Hall in five minutes, and took her seat at the Hufflepuff table where her friends were already waiting for her, expecting to hear every detail of her conversation with George.

"So, what did he want to talk to you about?" Valerie asked right off the bat. Melinda looked at the two who were looking right back at her, their attention solely on their friend.

"Err, well, he asked how I was, and how the baby was..." She started off in a bit of a mumble.

"Uh huh, and?" The two urged her on. Mel raised an eyebrow at them.

"And then, we talked about what we thought of the second task of the Tournament." Both girls nodded simultaneously, and still were expecting her to say more.

"...And he brought up something he had asked me before, that's it." Valerie blinked in confusion.

"What? What did he ask you? Come on, tell us~" She whined. Andrea sighed and shook her head at her friend's childishness.

"If I saw him as more than a friend or not, there." She finally completed so the two would leave her alone, hopefully. No such thing happened. Right after they gave their little gasps and giggles, they wanted to know more about it.

"And you said what? Yes? Do you like him? Are you guys going to hook up?" She could barely get a word out to answer when Val was already bombarding her with a bunch of questions.

"Calm down Val! Mel can't even talk with you asking so many things." Andrea scolded, making Valerie hush up so Melinda could finally speak. The caramel haired Hufflepuff sighed and looked to her plate.

"I couldn't answer him, it completely caught me by surprise. So, he said it was alright for me to take some more time..." She told them. Andrea nodded, but Val groaned.

"Oh Mel, why didn't you say you liked him? I can see how you've been looking at him lately. You're totally crushing on the Weasley twin!" Andrea shoved her a little, almost making her fall on her side.

"What was that for?" She questioned, indignantly. Andrea just gave her a look, and turned back to Mel.

"If you really don't know, then that's fine. But I'm kind of wondering if he's really into you even knowing now that you're like this..." She muttered. Melinda nodded herself when she mentioned that.

"I've thought about that already, and I don't know what he wants...is he just curious or did he actually hint that he likes me even when I'm expecting a baby? I'm so confused..." Mel groaned a little and shoved a small portion of baked potatoes into her mouth. Her two friends didn't know what to say to that, so they decided to let the subject go for the meantime and eat their lunch in peace.

* * *

After their last class of the day, the Hufflepuff trio went to the library to get their homework out of the way. Even though that was the original plan, Valerie would always start talking about something irrelevant, thus getting the other two side tracked and a little irritated that they weren't getting anything done.

"Val, I have a little tip to give you." Andrea suddenly said. Blinking, the dirty blonde asked her what it was. In a stoic expression, the brunette responded,

"Shut up." That made Val pout and get back to work while Mel hid a smile behind her open textbook. It took about two and a half hours for the three of them to get everything out of the way.

"Phew! I can't remember the last time we ever took this long to complete so much work." Said Andrea. Valerie laid her head on her book, a look of being drained plastered on her face.

"Ugh, I can't remember the last time we had this much homework at all...I miss the previous years." The other two grinned a little and did some light teasing of their friend before deciding to head off to their Common Room. Upon getting there, they dropped their stuff off at their dormitory and came right back down to sit down on the couches near the fireplace. A couple of students were there, either chatting or reading or doing some homework themselves; two were even playing Wizard's Chess. The girls relaxed and talked about whatever that came to their mind, and they were at first nothing important...until Valerie opened her mouth to talk about George again.

"Can you give it a rest? It's already obvious Mel doesn't want to talk about that anymore." Andrea grunted, but Valerie completely ignored her.

"But Mel, are you really sure you don't feel anything weird when you're with George, or when you see him? I've noticed that you seem to be blushing a lot more when he comes around and talks to you for a while." She pointed out. Melinda avoided eye contact and just gave a shrug.

"I don't know what it is...I don't know what I feel for him, honestly." She answered her. Val grinned a little, and the other two could almost see the wheels turning in her head.

'I don't even want to know what she's thinking, or planning for that matter.' Mel thought. Andrea then changed the subject to the Tournament.

"So, what do you guys things the third task will be like?" She asked. The other two had to think about that for a few.

"Well, since it's the last one, it surely ought to be the most difficult, don't you think?" Mel said tentatively. Andrea nodded in agreement to that.

"Yeah, probably is...gosh, I hate waiting around so long for it. It won't be until near the end of June!" She grumbled and leaned back on the couch. Valerie, on the other hand, was thinking of countless things it could happen.

"Maybe it'll be something like a duel between them! Like, the last one standing wins or something-or, or maybe it'll be a task in which they have to choose between saving their love and saving the world! Oh, that would be so amazingly romantic~" She said, her eyes already going into the usual dreamy state they got whenever she had Cedric in her mind. The other two shook their heads at their lovesick friend.

'Her obsession with Cedric will get her nowhere. She's helpless.' Thought Mel jokingly. As Valerie's continuous rambling went on, she began to think about Draco once again. She didn't know why, but he just kept popping into her head. If it wasn't during a specific time in which it had everything to do with him, it was at random when there was no need to think of him at all. Even if they haven't spoken for a good while, he still managed to haunt her in her thoughts.

'Not to talk about dreams, too.' Yes, Melinda has had a few dream episodes in which Draco was the main focus of them; they were more of a repetition of that night in which they got drunk, and everything else happened that lead to her being the way she was now.

'It's so suffocating, I can't get him out of my mind even if I want to. He's everywhere! I have no control over this, at all.' She thought, wishing more that she could have the choice to throw out anything she felt she didn't need to think about from her mind. She also wished that she could rule over her heart, telling it who to like and who not to like. Things would be so much easier if that was the case. Unfortunately, not even magic can help her out, because if it could she would have to go into the darkest of the darkest areas of witchcraft, and she was not about to mess with something as dangerous as that. For now, she tried to just take it one day at a time, hoping that everything would settle out eventually.

'Whatever happens, happens. This baby is what's important to me now, nothing more. Two more months left, only two...' She stared down at her large stomach, the corners of her lips curling up a bit in a small smile at the thought of soon having her baby in her arms.


	15. A New Development

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, It belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

_Dear Melinda,_

_I have received a letter from Dumbledore explaining your current situation. Needless to say I am rather disappointed that you let things reach such a point. However, as your caretaker, I will not abandon you when you are in most need. I was a friend of your parents and I am sure they would want me to help you through this time. Make sure that you take care of yourself and the baby, and have someone come tell me if anything goes wrong. _

_Love,_

_Martha_

Melinda was already anticipating the arrival of this letter. Dumbledore had told her a few weeks ago that he had sent word back home to her caretaker, because she needed to know what was going on with her. It was only now that she was getting her response to it, and though it made her sad that she disappointed her, it was a relief that Martha was willing to stick by her side anyway.

"So, at least she's going to help you out, right?" Andrea asked after she told them about the letter. Melinda nodded and stared down at her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook.

"Yeah, that's what it sounds like at least." She said, picking up her quill and beginning to finalize her answer to the DADA homework. Valerie tapped her chin with a finger, in thinking mode apparently. Andrea glanced over to her and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you thinking so hard about, Val?" The dirty blonde blinked and looked to her.

"Huh? Oh, nothing really. I'm just wondering about something, but if I talk about it you'll probably try to bite my head off." She grumbled at the end. Andrea rolled her eyes and nudged her.

"Oh come on, I will do no such thing. Just say it." She stared at her with a look of disbelief, but gave a sigh of surrender.

"Well, what if George finds out that the father of the baby is...you know, _him_?" At that, the brunette went silent, and so did Mel. She had thought about that before; the chances of him finding out were not all that low.

"That's a good question...I wouldn't doubt he'd be a little put off and confused if he knew, but...with the way George is you never know, he might actually be fine with it." Andrea said, trying not to seem too negative.

"Besides, if Melinda explained what really happened to him, I'm sure he'd understand. The circumstances were just weird and unpredictable; he cannot blame her entirely." Valerie agreed with what she said.

"Yeah, both were drunk, right?" She looked to Mel for confirmation. The caramel girl was barely listening to her, because her mind was on the Weasley boy. Her two friends looked at each other, then decided to shut up and continue on their homework.

'Is it possible that he would be fine with it like Andrea said? George isn't just any guy, I never really know what he'll do next.' She thought as she absentmindedly scribbled on her parchment paper.

* * *

At the start of this spring, already flowers began to slowly bloom in the courtyards and gardens of the Castle. In the coming of March, the climate was finally beginning to gradually change from chilling cold to a slightly warmer weather. The girls especially liked that since they could hang out outside for a longer period of time without freezing their bottoms off. Mel still couldn't stay out for too long or she might catch a cold, and at this point in her last trimester, she wanted to be as cautious as possible so her baby wouldn't suffer any complications when it was born.

"I'm curious, do you want a boy or a girl?" Val asked Melinda while the three plus the twins were eating breakfast. That question caused Mel to pause and think for a second.

"Hm, I don't really know. I guess as long as it's healthy, it doesn't matter to me." She said, but Valerie wasn't satisfied with that response.

"Okay, but if you **had** to choose, which would you prefer?" She pressed on while Andrea rolled her eyes and the twins grinned a little, curious themselves. Sighing, the Hufflepuff teen stopped to consider it for a moment.

"...I suppose I would lean a little more towards a girl." Hearing that, Valerie grinned wide and nodded.

"Of course! That's just natural." Fred then leaned over to Melinda.

"Why a girl? You know boys are much more fun to take care of." He joked with a wink. George nodded to what his brother said and wrapped an arm around Mel's shoulders even.

"Yes, take us as an example; we are just incredibly great boys with a sense of humor and good ethics~" Val gave a snort at that; it was all a bunch of bologna. Melinda lightly chuckled and shrugged.

"That might be true, but if it means having one that makes a lot of trouble then I rather pass on it." The twins gave pouts and hung their heads in mock sadness.

"I see how it is, you really think lowly of us, don't you?" Fred sniffed while George sighed.

"I knew it Fred, I knew it all along that we were never good enough for little Mel. What a pity." He shook his head and the two brothers continued with their pitiful act that only made the other three take them less seriously and even laugh a bit.

"That is not true, I think very highly of you two." Mel then said, pinching their cheeks a little. They pulled away and rubbed where she pinched, before smirking and ruffling up her hair pretty bad. Melinda tried pushing them away, not wanting her hair to come out like a bird's nest. The two grinned and finally let go once satisfied. Andrea stifled a laugh at how messy Melinda's hair looked now. Valerie took more pity and handed Mel a compact mirror so she could put her hair back in order.

"So, are you excited for the baby to be born? It'll be in less than two months, right?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, sometime in April. I'm excited, but a little nervous too..." George stared at her as she said that, his mind seeming to be working on something.

"What if the baby comes right on our birthday, Georgie? Wouldn't that be splendid, eh?" Fred nudged his brother who snapped out of it.

"What was that?" His brother raised an eyebrow at him.

"I said, wouldn't it be splendid if the baby was born on our birthday?" Hearing that, the other twin smiled and nodded.

"Of course it would. April Fools is not to be taken as a joke; it is a serious holiday." He nodded with a tone of business. Fred followed on his lead and fixed his tie even.

"You're quite right about that, mate. It is a very important holiday in which all the pranks come to life and make people's dull day much brighter than usual." They blabbered on a bunch of nonsense about April Fools, until they got bored of lecturing the three and decided to head off to sell some of their products to the students.

"I wonder if they'll ever be caught by Filch while doing that." Andrea mumbled as she watched them head off.

"They're quite sneaky since the first time they were caught by him. I'm sure they have their methods of _security_." Val mumbled, eating the rest of her pudding before shoving her books into her backpack.

The three soon headed off to their morning classes, hoping they wouldn't be doing another drill of pretests. Since they were 5th years, they were getting ready for the OWLs, and boy were the professors putting pressure on them. Mel hoped that she would do well, but with her baby on the way she didn't know how much study time she would be able to get or if she'd be able to even concentrate for the exams after it was born.

'I hope it doesn't keep me up all night.' She thought as she was finishing up the last of her homework for tomorrow. The other two had already stopped for a break, their brains obviously fried after 2 hours of nonstop writing.

"Ugh, I don't want to do the OWLs~" Val groaned, leaning back on her chair. Andrea popped a mint into her mouth and sighed herself.

"Me neither, but there's no way out of it. I sure hope they're easier than the exercises the professors are giving us..." She looked over to Mel who was still concentrated on her work.

"I guess little Miss Mel will do all fine and dandy on all of the OWLs, huh?" Val commented teasingly. Mel looked up, blinking a few times.

"Huh? I didn't hear you." Val shook her head. "Forget it, you can go back to your little work." And that's exactly what Mel did, but her mind was also occupied with other thoughts.

'I wonder if I should ask Madam Pomfrey what will be done after it's born. Yeah, I ought to, just so I can be prepared.' She decided and finally closed her book.

"Done." She said, relief radiating off her tone of voice. The other two almost jumped as it had been dead silent until she shut her textbook, rather loudly too.

"Jesus Mel, you startled us." Val said, her hand upon her chest. Mel grinned a little.

"Sorry." The other two sighed, then they gathered all their things and went out of the library. It wasn't long before they were met by the Weasley twins. Melinda couldn't help but already let out a small smile when she saw them, but more specifically George.

"Hey you three, having fun studying for the OWLs?" Fred teased, earning annoyed looks from Andrea and Valerie.

"As if, I'll be glad once it is done and over with." Val said with a small grumble. The two boys grinned and George looked to Mel.

"Are you still going to do it? I mean, by then you will have had your baby already. I kind of was expecting them to let you off." Melinda shrugged at that.

"I think I still have to do it, but I don't know how it'll be with the baby...maybe they'll have someone looking after it while I'm doing the exams." The twins nodded and Fred then tugged her over to them.

"Mind if we steal her for a few minutes?" He asked her two friends, who shook their heads.

"No, carry on." Val said and shooed them with her hands.

"What? But-" Melinda didn't get to finish her sentence as she was dragged away by Fred and George. They didn't let go of her until they reached a more secluded and quiet place.

"Alrighty then, now that we're alone," Fred began and then looked to George with a twinkle in his eyes. "I'll leave you two since I have things to do~" He said, and with that he was gone within seconds. Melinda couldn't even say anything as it all happened in a blink of an eye it seemed. George then looked at her with a smile.

"So um, what's all this about?" She asked with a small blush; no matter how many times she saw his smile, it always made her blush nowadays.

"I wanted to have some time alone with you so we could talk and stuff." He said, rubbing the back of his head. She stared at him when he said that.

"Okay...but why couldn't you just come up to me and ask to talk to me alone instead of doing all that with Fred?" She questioned curiously. George had to grin at that.

"Well, it wouldn't be as dramatic or interesting if I had done that instead. You know how we are." He winked and she shook her head.

"Yes, perhaps too well." She joked. Chuckling, he took her hand and pulled her over to sit on a bench; they were actually outside one of the castle's courtyards. Once seated, she once again looked over to him. He took a deep breath and looked over to her.

"The air is so fresh this evening." He said, rather corny. Mel smiled anyways and nodded.

"Yes." He looked away then for a second and scratched his cheek a bit.

"Well, this is probably going to be annoying for you, with me asking and bugging you about it nonstop, but I can't help it." He started off. Melinda raised an eyebrow, not sure of what he was speaking of. He turned fully to her and stared right at her face.

"Melinda, do you like me?" Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened a little.

"W-what? George I-" She didn't get to finish because he pulled her into a hug. Once again, she didn't know what to say, and in addition couldn't move either. George continued to hold her for a long while in silence, until he finally began to speak again, softly.

"I really like you Mel...this is a weird situation, because I imagined I'd be doing this completely different. With you being pregnant and all I didn't know what to do at first, but..." He paused for a moment.

"..But?" She urged him on, desperately wanting to hear the rest of what he had to say.

"But after I've thought about it, even if you're like this, even with the thought of you having to take care of a baby from here on in mind, I still cannot stop thinking about you. I still can't stop feeling this way..." He mumbled, and pulled away from the hug to look at her.

"That's why I'm asking you if you like me, I need to know if I have a chance despite all the odds." Because it was already dusk, Melinda was glad that her face was more concealed by the darkness, because if it wasn't he would definitely see that her face was a vibrant shade of scarlet.

"Please Mel, I need to know...would you consider dating me?" He pressed on, his eyes being filled with hope.

'Oh god, what should I do? He's willing to go through this even while I'm having a baby, this really means something.' She thought. Mel's mind was yet again in a conflict with itself.

'I have to tell him something now, I can't just leave him hanging forever.' She cleared her throat a little before beginning to speak.

"George...it's only going to get tougher for me once the baby's born. I don't even know if I'll have time to spend with you or if I'll even be back the next school year. There are a lot of things to consider and I don't want to just jump into this and end up hurting you." She said softly. George sighed and shook his head.

"Don't think about that. I'm willing to go through it with you. Whatever happens I'll be there for you, I promise." He said, starting to lean towards her. She didn't move, her body wouldn't let her. Her mind was clogged with many thoughts, but too many to prepare her for this next thing. As if in slow motion, George Weasely suddenly placed his lips upon hers. It was so sudden, so unexpected, that she could not react to it whatsoever in the first few seconds of it. What she didn't know was that a pair of eyes was watching this scene, and they did not like what they were seeing one bit.

* * *

"So it's official, you and George are going out now?" Val squealed at the news, making Melinda blush even more than she was already. It was true. Since that night, he made her feel confident enough to be willing to give it a go at the relationship. It still felt a little odd to switch from being his friend to being his girlfriend, but at the same time it felt rather good. Fred was grinning ear to ear at the news.

"Well, it's about time. I always thought you two had a thing for each other." He winked at Mel who flushed even more. George had a large smile on his face and an arm wrapped around her waist.

"Yep! Let it be known to all that we're going out now." He stated loudly and proudly. Melinda's friends snickered at how red her face got after he said that. Her new boyfriend grinned sheepishly and pecked her cheek. That was received with a couple of Aww's from his twin and the Hufflepuff girls. Mel shook her head, but pecked his cheek in turn.

"Oh, what did I sign up for." She said playfully. The ginger haired Gryffindor ruffled her hair a little before placing a hand on her large stomach, starting to caress it a little.

"Oh Georgie, if I didn't know better I'd say you were the father of that baby." Fred commented as he watched his twin's actions.

"Who knows? Maybe I can be a father figure for it, since apparently the real one will take no responsibility for it." Melinda didn't say anything about that, and neither did the other two girls.

'I will have to tell him soon, I hate having to keep this from him when he's giving out so much for me.' She thought, her conscious plagued with guilt. Since it was a Saturday, the group went out to enjoy some sun near the lake. The girls did their usual chatter while the two boys ran up ahead to skip a few rocks across the water. Even if they were dating, George still remained the same for the most part, which Melinda liked as she wouldn't want him to be completely different after their relationship took a whole new turn. She really wished for this to work out, because she felt that she needed something good to happen in her life. George being so supportive of her and accepting of her condition made it all the better, because she felt she would need him for when it was near the birth of her child.

'I don't even know if this got around to Draco yet...what will his reaction be?' The thought suddenly came to mind. As soon as that crossed her mind she tried to shake it off; whatever he thought about it, it wasn't a big deal. Draco was just the father of her baby, it's not like they were in a relationship or anything.

'Yeah, that would be nearly impossible. He's just the father...just the father and nothing more. He'll help with what he can and that's that.' Mel became very decisive in trying to bury her feelings for the Malfoy, and let the ones she had for George take its place.


	16. That Night At The Pub

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

"Certainly, we will have to make temporary accommodations for your child, Miss Valkyrie." Madam Pomfrey stated when Mel came to the Hospital Wing. The girl nodded, waiting for the woman to continue on. She gave her a side glance as she organized a few flasks in a cabinet.

"The Headmaster suggested we make a nursery, and he already spoke with your caretaker who was willing to look after your child while you are finishing this school year." That made Melinda sigh in relief.

'Martha was a God send from heaven.' She thought, really thinking highly of the woman that has been taking care of her all these years since her parents died. Sometimes she felt ashamed for taking Martha for granted, when she was there for her all her life, even before she began to take care of her. Melinda's parents were great friends with the woman, and even with a sick mother to care for, she still found it in her heart to devote herself to bringing up Mel after the tragedy of her mother and father's death occurred. Melinda was so broken; she was only nine when the two had suddenly been killed by runaway deatheaters.

"So...what will happen after this year is over? Will I be able to come back?" She found herself asking the nurse. The woman stopped, and turned to look back at her, uncertainty in her eyes.

"Only the Headmaster can answer you that, dear." She said in a soft tone. Melinda tried not to seem disappointed, because if she was not allowed back she would just have to find another way to move on with her life, while raising her child. She got up from the chair and excused herself out of the Hospital Wing. Her two friends and boyfriend were waiting outside for her.

"So? How did it go?" Andrea asked. Mel sighed and gave a light shrug.

"Well, they've asked for Martha to come along to take care of the baby once it's born, so I at least know for sure that I'll be able to finish off this year alright." She said. The others wore a more relaxed expression; they had been very tense, hoping that no complications would arise for Mel.

"That's good to know." Val said encouragingly, while George came up and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Is something else bothering you?" He asked in a low tone. Melinda looked up at him and gave a tentative smile.

"No, I'm fine." She assured. George nodded and leaned down, pecking her cheek before pulling away. The four of them met Fred at the Great Hall for lunch. He was waiting rather impatiently to hear what news they got. George wasted no time in relaying it to him. Melinda busied herself with putting some food onto her plate as they sat down; she was feeling pretty hungry right now. Andrea and Valerie did the same while they began to chat.

Mel was lost in her thoughts as she ate. All she could think about was her baby, how she would take care of it, how things would work out with George after it was born, and how things between her and Draco would stand. Would he want to visit his child? Be part of his or her life? Or would he rather not bother with it and just throw some money in her face as means of helping out? Given the facts that his family was very in with the crowd and liked to show how powerful and rich they were, the idea didn't seem impossible to her. Draco Malfoy was an arrogant, spoiled rich kid and she had no doubt of that. But this year she's seen a different side of him. She ran his actions through her mind more than a thousand times, and no matter how many times she tried to believe that he was just thinking of his image and reputation, she couldn't help but feel that he was sincere about it, that he really cared about this child inside of her. His child.

"You're spacing out again, Mel." Val snapped her back to reality. She looked up at her two friends who were staring at her curiously.

"What's on your mind now?" Andrea asked this time. Mel didn't feel it was the right time to tell them, especially since George was there.

"Nothing really, I'm just thinking about the things that will happen soon." She mumbled, which was half the truth. The two girls nodded in understanding, and George suddenly wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Whatever happens, I'll be there for you." He promised, like he's done so many times before since they made amends after he found out about her pregnancy. She smiled, a wave of comfort and relief washing over her as he said that. She didn't know why, but his words were very reassuring to her. She felt she could trust the ginger haired boy no matter what. That is why she hated keeping the fact of Draco being the father from him. He deserved to know, even if it might break them up. Melinda knew she had to tell him soon, before he found out for himself in the worst way possible, and his trust on her would be broken.

After lunch, the bell rang and all the students headed off to their next class. Valerie sighed to herself, still not liking the fact that she had Potions right after; she's already had a moment of nausea like she expected it would happen before. It wasn't pretty, to say the least. The three girls sat down in their usual seats, and so did the Ravenclaws that shared the class with them that hour. Snape, as usual, gave his intimidating look to the entire class before he started on the lesson. Melinda had to continue on her thick packet of assignments he had given her at the start of the semester, being used to it by now but still not liking it.

The Potions Professor walked about the room as the rest of the class worked on their potion brewing, his presence very unnerving to most. Even after all these years, a lot of the Hogwarts students still weren't very used to Snape's personality. Him looming over their shoulders in a chilling way as if to dare them to make one measly mistake was enough to make some faint, such as Neville Longbottom from Gryffindor. It wasn't a secret that the Potions master had a great preference for his house, the Slytherins, and that he wasn't exactly fair to the rest, especially the Gryffindors. Some could say he had some serious grudge against that House.

Melinda concentrated on her writing about the side effects of the three Unforgivable Curses, when Snape suddenly stopped by her desk and peered over what she had written, shaking his head, and then going over to his desk. She ignored that, thinking he was just doing that to try and set her off track, and continued with her work.

Needless to say, everyone was glad when the bell rang and they could get out of the dungeons, far away from Snape. Valerie was telling the two how she almost got sick again when she had to pick at some wriggly fat worms.

"Ugh, I felt for sure that I was going to throw up then." She groaned, rubbing her stomach as if it was still upset. Andrea shook her head, but took pity on her friend.

"I swear, the more I think about it, the more I come to realize that maybe you've got it better, Mel." She stated, looking over to her friend walking, well, _waddling_ beside them. Melinda gave her a playful glare.

"As if, my hands are numb from writing so much." The dirty blonde friend grinned at that.

"Just like I said, eh?" She teased, and Melinda showed her tongue to her in return. Andrea chuckled at the two of them. The three had a free period today, so they could relax and perhaps get some studying or homework done before the next class.

"Ah, it's so nice to have some free time~" Val said, as if they had never been allowed a moment of break in all these past years at Hogwarts. They sat down on the free and open window spaces of the walls of a hall, where it lead to an outside patio. Andrea leaned back a bit, the sun shinning down on her face as she welcomed its warmth.

"I couldn't agree with you more." She said to Val's statement. Melinda grinned a little and looked down to her stomach, her hand coming up to it and gently stroking her belly. It was funny, to not be able to see her knees or feet all that well; she still wasn't very used to that. Her stomach had grown so big in the last few months, she didn't think it could grow anymore before it ripped her skin.

'I'll definitely have to get into shape after this.' She thought, closing her eyes for a moment as a light breeze went past her.

"Um, Melinda?" Andrea suddenly muttered, causing her to open her eyes and look at her.

"What is it?" She asked, and the only thing she could do was point to the end of the hall. Her eyes followed in the direction she was pointing, and her heart almost stopped beating when she saw Draco Malfoy standing there, in the shadows and giving her a look that she found a little unnerving. Taking a moment to recuperate from the first shock, she then turned to her two friends as she stood up slowly.

"I'll be back in a few." She said, but the other two were very hesitant to let her go.

"Will you be alright?" Val asked in a low tone, giving quick, sharp glare Draco's way. Melinda smiled a little and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be fine don't worry." Andrea nodded to her, and the two watched as her friend walked off to meet Draco, him taking her arm and dragging her off and out of their sight.

Melinda didn't speak a single word as the Slytherin boy took her off to another place. He was careful as he walked through the hallways, not wanting to be seeing by anyone. Finally, he brought her up to an extension of the castle that no one really went to. He let go of her arm and turned to face her.

"So, I heard you and that Weasel boy are going out." He said, not able to hide the contempt behind the words. Melinda raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't falter.

"So what if we are?" She questioned. "It's not like I'm not allowed to date him, even if I'm this way." Draco glared a little at her and looked away. Something wasn't right about him, Mel noticed. He seemed pretty stiff and nervous.

"Still, I don't want my kid around him when it's born, or any of his friends for that matter." He demanded. Melinda narrowed her eyes, not liking the fact that he was saying that as if he was giving orders to a house elf and expecting her to do it without complaints.

"Excuse me, but who do you think you are to tell me who I should be around or not? You don't have any right to demand that of me, Draco Malfoy." The boy almost flinched at her tone of voice when she said that. He didn't know how to say after that at first, but then he regained his composure and scoffed.

"I'm the father of that baby in there! It's only right that I be granted that wish since I'm choosing to help you out." The moment he said that, he wished he could take it back, but his pride wouldn't let him go back on his words. Melinda glared harder now, her eyes reflecting contempt and annoyance towards him.

"Grant you that wish because you're _choosing_ to help me? It should be your **duty **to help out, not because you chose to. This was just as much your mistake as mine!" She threw at him. This was it. This was exactly why things could never work out between them. This was why she thought it was useless to like someone like him, so pompous, so selfish and with the ego his parents helped grow. His eyes widened for a moment when she snapped at him like that, and now he was really at a loss on what to say. He had never seen her lash out at him like that, never seen her react in such a way and he didn't know why it frightened him inside.

"Listen well to what I'm going to say now, if you so much as think that you have a say on what I do, you're dead wrong. This may be your child I'm carrying, but you're not going to be part of its life if I can help it. I don't need your stupid support, I don't need your dirty money that your parents spoil you with. To hell with you and your selfishness Malfoy!" She huffed, trying to calm herself down as stressing out like that wouldn't be very good for her baby. He stood still, frozen on the spot after she finished. Really, Draco had no idea she could be that fierce.

"Melinda I-" She cut him off by turning away from him. "Save it, I don't want to hear anymore of it. You have no right to insult George when he's been so good to me, even after learning about my pregnancy." She said in a calmer voice. He took a step forward, but stopped himself. Taking a deep breath, she looked back at him. He did not like the look in her eyes; it made him want to crawl under a rock and stay hidden there.

"I can't figure out for the life of me, how this ever happened between us. I wish you weren't there at the pub that night, I wish I hadn't drank so much. But I can't change that anymore. The only thing I can do is look forward to the birth of my child, and take care of it as best as I can. And you...I don't want you to cause me anymore problems. Stay where you belong, and I'll do the same." She said, turning her head and walking away from him.

She saw, before she left him there by himself, the stunned look on the boy's face, how shocked he was at all the things she had said to him. Part of her felt good that she gave that ultimatum, that she was able to let go of her fragility and defend George and her integrity. Even as this good feeling of standing up to the Slytherin boy took place, she couldn't understand why her heart ached so much.

* * *

That evening, after the last few classes were done, Melinda decided that it was time to tell George the truth. After her row with Draco, she felt it necessary to get it out of her chest, and if he chose not to stand by her, then...

"So, why did you bring me here? Did you hope to get some time alone?" George asked teasingly. Mel smiled at that, then shook her head.

"Sadly no, I wanted to talk to you about something actually." She cut right to the chase. Blinking, he straightened himself up a little more to stand at full attention.

"I'm all ears, Mel." He said, not meaning it as a joke this time, but rather sincerely. She bit her lip, trying to think how she would go about it smoothly.

"Well, first of all, I want to thank you again, for being with me during this time. You don't know how much it means to me." She started gently. George smiled and he pecked her cheek.

"Counting the many times you've said that already, I think I have a bit of a notion." He said, half jokingly. Melinda blushed a little and looked at him.

"George, I need to tell you something that might upset you..." That caused him to grow a little worried now.

"What do you mean by that? Nothing's wrong with you or the baby, right?" He instantly asked, concern laced in his voice.

"No, we're fine don't worry. But the thing is...before this goes any further, I need to tell you who the father of this baby is. I don't want to keep it a secret from you any longer. I just hope that you will not judge me because of it.." She muttered, looking down to her lap for a second. George frowned a little, but said nothing and let her continue on.

"It was during a rainy night, and I let my caretaker go home early to take care of her mother who was sick. But after she left, the house felt very empty, and I got sad and lonely. So I decided to head to Diagon Alley, and walked around until I found myself in front of a pub." She mumbled, letting her mind sink back to the memories of the past.

_**Flashback**_

_Melinda pushed the door open, and instantly the smell of heavy alcohol hit her nostrils. She knew it was wrong, she knew she shouldn't be there, but at this point she didn't care. Moving along the sides, she was invisible to those inside the pub, drinking until they couldn't stand up at all, and acting like fools to the broken tune of music coming out of the radio. She would've found it all comical, if it wasn't for her mood right now. Shifting over to a corner table, she sat down by a very small window, her hood concealing half the top of her face._

_'What am I doing here?' She thought to herself, but was unwilling to move from where she sat. Keeping her head low, she motioned for the bartender to come over. He trudged to her table, drunk with liquor himself it seemed._

_"A bottle of firewhiskey." She muttered, trying to sound older than she was. Either he didn't notice or he didn't care, because right after she said that he went to get it right away while stumbling about a little. She waited about five minutes until a bottle and a mug were placed in front of her._

_" 'ave a nice drink, mate." The bartender sniggered and then went back behind the counter to drink more from the barrel. Mel eyed the bottle, almost afraid to touch at first. However, her solemn self decided to not care and pour a bit of the liquid into the mug. She then picked it up with her two hands and swallowed what was inside, and the burning sensation went down her throat, almost making her vomit it back up from how hot it felt. She breathed in and sighed once the feeling seized. Her eyes gazed at the bottle for a long time, meanwhile her mind was only playing back to the day she found out her parents had died, to their funeral she reluctantly attended, and to the days of loneliness after that. She felt horrible, even with Martha trying to comfort her; it was hard to think that her mum and dad were gone, that she wouldn't be able to talk to them, eat meals with them, or share special moments with them anymore._

_"Oh, to hell with it." She grabbed the bottle and took a long drink right out of it. She withstood the burning feeling that coursed down her throat another time, trying to use it as a means to push away all the feelings of sorrow and emptiness she felt within her at the moment. It seemed to do the trick well enough, and before she knew it, she had ordered another full bottle of the liquor. The rain outside had dwindled to light sprinkle. The door to the pub opened once again, and another figure waltzed in, trying not to be noticed. They moved over to where Mel was, and took a seat about four chairs away from where she sat. He gave a grunt to the bartender, who stumbled over and slurred his words while asking him what he'd be having._

_"Two bottles of hard firewhiskey." Came a low voice. Melinda thought she might've recognized it, but she brushed it off as the alcohol affecting her senses. The person was also hooded, but she could faintly see a few strands of blond hair protruding out of it. The bartender came to the guy and set the mug and two bottles of the alcohol on his table. He wasted no time in opening the first bottle and drinking it down, not even bothering to pour it into the mug. Melinda watched this guy, a bit curiously; she thought she saw a pair of blue eyes as well, but she wasn't sure. Grasping the bottle of firewhiskey in front of her, she leaned back to drink the last few drops inside of it, and that caused for her hood to slip down. Being as drunk as she was, Mel didn't seem to care, but the person that had recently come in shifted in surprise._

_"Valkyrie?" He asked uncertainly. She groaned and leaned her head down on the table, only mustering to glance over at him as he said her name. How did he know who she was? The person them moved over to her table, bringing with him his other bottle._

_"Yes, you're definitely Valkyrie." He sneered as he took a good look at her. She frowned a little, confused about who this person was. Without thinking straight, she reached over and snagged at his hood, pulling it down to reveal the face of Draco Malfoy. Her eyes widened and she gasped, but her mouth was quickly covered by his hand pressing upon it._

_"If you tell anyone I swear you'll regret it." He hissed in a low tone. She stared at him, before slowly nodding. He waited a moment, then pulled his hand away when he felt it safe enough._

_"You...why you here?" She asked, trying not to slur her words. Draco stared at her, almost annoyed at this predicament he found himself in._

_"I should be asking that. You're completely drunk." He muttered. She looked down to her lap, as if that had brought back all the sorrows she had been feeling. The boy was surprised when he saw tears start to roll down her cheeks._

_"So what?" She grumbled back, reaching for his bottle. He pulled it away from her like it was something sacred to him._

_"So, I could tell on you for being here when you're underage." Was what he came up with, and she got a stupid, drunken grin on her face._

_"Hah, so are you." That made him blink, then curse under his breath for his own stupidity._

_"Well, let's keep this between us then. No one can know." He stressed, while she numbly nodded._

_"Mhm, 'course." He then leaned back on his chair and opened his last bottle before chugging it down almost instantly; there was no need to care that his face was plain in sight now. They were in the dark part of the pub anyways, and with all those drunks in there, who would actually recognize him?_

_He gave a sigh after he finished off his drink. "I suppose we're in a pretty bad shape tonight." Draco muttered after a period of silence passed between them. She mumbled something incomprehensible and stared at him._

_"I didn't think you had anything to make you come here for." At that, he gave a small scoff and looked to the small window._

_"You don't know me well, so you wouldn't understand." He said, a tone of lost in his voice. She found herself feeling a bit of pity towards him, even if she didn't know what brought him there in the first place._

_"Well, you don't know me well either, but I can say this is one crappy day for me." Mel mumbled, causing him to look back at her. Before they knew it, they were ordering another bottle of firewhiskey and talking about their problems. Melinda spoke about her parents being dead, and Draco about the loneliness he had back home. She found it hard to believe such a spoiled brat like him could feel lonely. He had money. His parents were alive still. He had reputation and power. So what could possibly cause him loneliness?_

_"Juss 'cause I've got it all, don' mean my life's purfect...I don't remem'er the last time my parents actually spent time with me; they're aaalways busy, and they make it up by buying bunch and bunches of gifts~" He mumbled while slurring up his words a few times. She nodded with a serious expression. He then smirked and poked her on the cheek._

_"And then I tries to come here to feel better, and I find a brat like you here to ruin it." That statement made her giggle for some reason. Obviously the alcohol was getting to them. The two then went on to talk about a million nonsenses, that in their drunken state seemed to mean the world to them. The next thing that happened, they were heading out of the pub, into the pouring rain. Melinda jumped in the middle of the street and twirled around while laughing, getting completely soaked. Draco snickered and pulled her from the streets._

_"Are you bloody mad? W-what if someone sees you? You nutty girl." He said in something between a taunt and a tease. She grinned wide and the two stumbled off again; luckily the streets were empty by that time and they weren't recognized by anyone. They walked and stumbled, shoved each other playfully, then stumbled some more until they rounded a corner and took shelter under the roof of a building, their backs pressed against the outside wall. They looked at each other and chuckled; they were a complete mess._

_"You look terrible, you know." She said. He was drenched to the bone, and his hair was plastered everywhere on his forehead and around his face. He smirked and pinched her rosy cheek._

_"Then you must look even worse." She stuck her tongue out at him at that, before putting it back in and looking at the wall across. Draco stared at the girl, who much like him was wet from head to toe, and very drunk as well. He felt an impulse come over him, and because his mind wasn't working very well under the influence, he didn't stop it from happening. _

_Melinda was surprised when she found him suddenly in front of her, his arms rested on either side of her, their faces extremely close. Her hazel eyes met with his electric blue ones, that seemed to glimmer even more in the dark of the night. He closed the gap between them, pressing his wet lips upon hers. Melinda felt her eyelids shut down, and her lips begin to respond to the sudden kiss the blond initiated. His arms went down and wrapped around her waist while hers wrapped around his neck. They kissed like their lives depended on it, a kiss that was passionate and needy. Draco held her close to him, until he had to break away from the kiss to find air into his lungs. Melinda panted softly after the release, her mind going wild and not letting her think straight._

_"Let's go." He said, almost in a whisper as he took her hand and dragged her off. They went on for a long time, until they reached the outside of the town, where they could see a patch of wildlife. Draco pulled her right into it. They found shelter under a large willow tree, where he laid her down on the ground, with him on top of her. She stared up at him, her eyes being unusually glossy and reflecting an unknown emotion to fit the moment. He brought a hand up and caressed her face, pushing away any strings of wet hair that clung to her. She felt odd, very odd. Right at that moment, she felt like she's never felt before and it worried her a little. However, that worry was washed away when Draco's lips met hers once again. That alone made her forget all the worries, all the doubts, and all the sadness that drove her to that pub. It was hard to explain why that was, but for the moment she just rolled with whatever was happening, and so did Draco._

_Pulling away from her lips, he began to trail kisses down her neck, a move that brought a small moan from her. That seemed to make him more exhilarated than he already was._

_"Draco.." She suddenly called out, her voice sounding yearning. He looked back up at her, and their eyes met once more._

_"You do have, you know, protection?" She managed to ask while her body was being consumed by a fiery feeling. He paused for a moment, his face faltering for a second before he gave a small smile and nodded._

_"Yeah, don't worry about it." He said without thinking, and continued to kiss her lips, finding them intoxicating at the moment._

Melinda snapped back to reality, and she looked at George who was still waiting for her to tell him.

"George, the father of this baby...is Draco Malfoy."

* * *

**Keep the Reviews coming, guys! I love them! :D I'm also thinking of maybe doing a Pirates of the Caribbean fic later, what do you think about it? Any POTC fans there? Anyways, hope you liked this chapter and thank you for your support!**


	17. A Surprise or Two

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**disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

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"I-I don't think I heard you right...what was his name?" George stuttered out, hoping he had heard it wrong. Melinda bit her lip and frowned a little, but she couldn't back down now.

"I said it was Draco..." The ginger haired boy's eyes widened and any color was drained from his face. Melinda's heart began racing, fearing what he might say or do now.

'Calm down Mel, just calm down. If he rejects you, well, you already knew it was possible.' She thought as consolation, but it didn't help her case much.

"I...I don't know what to say. That _kid_ Mel, how...Merlin's beard." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Mel looked away, trying not to let tears fall from her eyes.

"I know it sounds crazy, but George please understand that we were drunk. I-I didn't know what I was doing-what we were doing." She tried to explain, turning to look back at him. George remained silent, staring off with a far away look. Feeling that her throat was suddenly very dry, Melinda gulped and waited for him to say something, anything.

"Well, how did it happen? I mean, I still can't wrap my head around how you two could possibly have..." He trailed off.

"I know what you mean, frankly not even I know how it happened. I was so drunk and out of my mind. Draco just happened to be there at the pub at the most unfortunate time, I guess." She muttered, feeling that was all she could say to it. He gave a slow nod and looked down at her.

"So, the kid belongs to Malfoy...man, I can't believe this." He muttered, more so to himself. She thought she knew where this was going, so she decided to get ahead of herself.

"I understand if you don't want to be with me anymore, but please don't hate me George, please..." She begged him, her eyes looking desperate. He raised an eyebrow and gave her an incredulous look.

"Hate you? Mel, I could never hate you, even if I wanted to." He mustered a half smile and cupped her face, causing her to stare at him half in awe and confusion.

"Doesn't matter to me if you're carrying that prick's baby, I know it was an accident, I can't blame you for something you didn't mean to happen." His voice was soft and sincere. His tone calmed her speeding heartbeat a little. George leaned down and gave a small peck on her forehead.

"Don't worry, I won't abandon you. I'm sticking by your side like glue." He said half jokingly. Melinda couldn't help but smile and nod.

"Thank you so much George." She said, feeling very grateful for his fidelity and amazing capacity for understanding. He nodded and pulled her into a comforting hug, which she greatly welcomed.

'Melinda, you're one lucky girl.' She thought, glad for having such a great guy like George by her side.

'And here I was, thinking the worst.' She thought, lightly shaking her head. After all, George was a very unpredictable person, just like his brother Fred. There was no telling what he, or the two for that matter, would do or think next. Melinda then pulled away from the hug after a few minutes, George looking down to her when she did. She wiped the tears that had managed to slip from her face.

"Well, I feel much better now." She confessed, causing him to chuckle lightly.

"I'll bet you do. I must've caused quite the suspense, huh?" He winked, earning a laugh from her and a kiss to the cheek.

"You're too much." She said. He grinned and then stood from the bench, pulling her up with him.

"Well then, shall we head back to indulge ourselves with some food?" He suggested, and Melinda nodded her head with a slight grin.

"Yes." So, he wrapped an arm around her and they went off to the Great Hall for dinner.

* * *

"Oh, what a relief!" Andrea said with a sigh when she heard from Mel what had happened between her and George. Valerie nodded herself, still a little amazed at George's reaction, but happy nonetheless.

"I swear Mel, you're a very lucky girl to have him by your side. If it was any other guy I don't know what they would've done, frankly..." The dirty blonde mumbled. Andrea couldn't argue with that this time, because she thought the same way.

"Yes, I'm very glad George is, well, George." She said with a bright smile. Andrea smiled herself and patted her shoulder.

"You got nothing to worry about." She said, but that wasn't really true. Melinda still wondered about Draco after they had that heated disagreement. Curiosity was her enemy, and right now her mind was plagued with wonder about the blond boy. Was he guilty? Angry? Upset? Any of those things? She remembered that right after that row with the Slytherin boy she had gone up to the dormitory and cried against her pillow.

"Anyways, about what happened with that slimy git from that annoying House, I still can't believe he had the courage to say those things to you. Who does he think he is?" Valerie said with a huff. Prior to telling them what happened to George, she had confessed to her two best friends what went down between her and Malfoy. They were not at all pleased with the initiative he took with her.

"I agree, some nerve he got. He has no so in who you go out with or whatever. So what if he's the father of your child? You still have a life to live!" Andrea said, quite exasperated. Melinda blinked, but silently nodded to the both of them.

"Yeah, but I think I might've made things worse by letting my emotions get to me." She sighed, but the other two shook their heads.

"Nonsense Mel! You did what was right. You defended yourself and George **and** put him in his place. The stupid git." Val grumbled with distaste, crossing her arms. Andrea leaned back and scratched her cheek a little.

"I think he needed that wake up call. He go on thinking he can tell you what to do. He can't. But about the baby..." She suddenly trailed off, thinking on the subject.

"Yeah, the babe situation might be a little problematic." She added as an afterthought. At that, the other two looked at her. Andrea looked back and sat up straighter.

"He might be very stubborn about allowing George near his child. Of course, he no doubt wouldn't risk the rest of the school finding out, but either way you might just want to be careful Mel. I don't really know how far that boy can go, especially with the power his family has in high society." Melinda frowned when she said that, not quite understanding what she was getting to. Apparently, neither did Val.

"What are you talking about, Andrea?" Valerie asked. Andrea looked over to her, then to the ground.

"What I'm saying is, should Draco really want to do something, he can find a way to persuade his dad to do something against George's family. You know the guy probably won't hesitate much. The Malfoys and the Weasleys don't really get along, I've heard." That left the three dead silent then, and it was a good thing too because the door to the Common Room opened and a couple of students began to come in, their chatter filling up the entire chamber. They decided to drop the subject for now and head out for a while.

* * *

"Melinda!" Called out a very familiar voice. She was on her way to Arithmancy class, but stopped and turned at the sound of her name being called. It was Cedric, and he jogged a little until he caught up to her.

'What does he want?' She thought curiously. Ever since that talk they had alone the 6th year Hufflepuff champion has been acting a little strange towards her.

"Hey, do you have a minute, or are you late for class?" He asked. She glanced down at her watch, seeing she had about 6 minutes before class started.

"I have a bit of time to spare." She said, looking at him a little suspiciously now. He gave a sheepish grin and nodded.

"Brilliant, it's all I need. I have a favor to ask of you, actually." He said, causing her to be even more weary.

"Umm, what kind of favor would that be?" At that, he leaned in a little bit so she could hear him better.

"Could you come by the Common Room for lunch?" Cedric asked suddenly. At the request, she raised her eyebrows even more. That was quite an odd thing for him to ask, and it left her thinking.

"For what reason, exactly?" Mel pressed on. He gave a small smile and his eyes looked something pleading-like.

"Won't you just come? There is something I'd like to give to you, and your baby as well." He said, and she began to relax a little.

"Hm, alright then. During lunch you say?" He nodded and pulled back. "Yes, at lunch. Thanks a lot Mel. I'll see you then!" He said as he headed off. She watched him disappear into the crowd of students and pursed her lip a bit.

"That was weird." She mumbled, then shrugged and headed off to her Arithmancy class, joining Andrea on her way there.

"Hey! What took you?" She asked teasingly as they walked.

"Well, Cedric wanted to have a word with me." She told her, and she didn't notice a small twinkle in her eye.

"Oh really? Don't let Val know about it." She joked with a small chuckle. Mel nudged her lightly with a smile herself.

"I know, right? Anyways, I found it a little odd how he just asked me to come up to the Common Room during lunchtime." She mumbled, and Andrea looked at her with a convincing curiosity.

"I see, and did he say what for?" Melinda nodded, the two arriving at the Arithmancy classroom and placing their bags on top of their desks.

"Vaguely, but yes. He said he had something to give to me and my baby." Andrea nodded and sat down on her seat.

"I see, then you ought to really go check it out then. Who knows, he might give you something to help out with the kiddo in here." She lightly patted her large stomach. Smiling a little, Mel nodded and took her seat beside her friend.

* * *

"Where are those two?" Mel questioned lowly, a little frustrated that she wasn't seeing Andrea or Valerie anywhere. They always met up after their third hour class to head to the Great Hall together for lunch, but this time the two were running rather late. Sighing, she then began to head off to the Hufflepuff Common Room.

'I suppose I'll go see what Cedric has for me.' She thought, having grown impatient with waiting for her two best friends. It took her about 5 minutes to get there, and when she opened the door to the Common Room, she was met with loud cheers and confetti pops. She blinked, having been a little startled at first.

"W-what's going on?" She asked, looking around the room where a bunch of her fellow Hufflepuffs were standing with grins on their faces. Andrea and Valerie suddenly came up to her from the crowd with smiles on their faces.

"Surprise! Or did you forget your own birthday?" Val questioned teasingly. Realization dawned on her and her eyes widened a little. Andrea chuckled and gave her a small hug.

"I take it that you really forgot, huh?" Melinda shook her head and looked at the banner that now caught her eye; it said _Happy Birthday Mel! / Baby Shower!_ Melinda's eyes softened up and grinned brightly as she looked at her friends plus the rest.

"Oh you guys, thank you so much!" She said, deeply touched for them throwing a birthday part and a baby shower for her at the same time.

"Yeah, we were thinking about what to do for your 16th birthday, but it was actually Cedric who had the brilliant idea of throwing you a surprise party." Andrea confessed in a whisper, ignoring Valerie's sudden flinch. The dirty blonde smiled anyways and chipped up.

"But I was the one that had the idea of adding the Baby Shower to it." At that, Melinda hugged her friend. "Thank you, Val."

"Alright then, shall we get this party started then? We only have 1 hour before classes return." Andrea suddenly said. The rest of the students cheered and so one turned the radio on, and music starting to play for their entertainment.

About 15 minutes into the party, they gathered up at the center table of the Common Room where a two tier birthday cake with sixteen candles stood. Melinda went over, being encouraged by her friends, and after they sang happy birthday to her, she made a wish and blew out the candles. Everyone clapped, and the celebration went on. She soon weaved her way around the crowed of partying students until she found Cedric. She walked over and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh, hey Mel. Congrats." He said after turning from his friends, giving her a charming smile. Melinda smiled herself and nodded.

"Thanks, and thank you for this. Andrea told me it was your idea." At that, Cedric blushed a slight bit, but his smile only broadened.

"Ah, no problem. You're a fellow Hufflepuff and friend, I wanted to do something special for you. Did you like it?" She instantly nodded in return.

"Of course! I really appreciate it." She said, before giving him a small hug. He was a little surprise with the sudden contact, but slowly returned it. Mel then pulled away, not wanting to linger in his arms for too long because she knew Val would be desperately jealous. With a last grin, she headed off back to her two friends, who were talking to a couple of other girls.

"Oh, Mel! Come over here for a second." Andrea called out to her. Mel walked over and stopped to stand next to Val.

"What's up?" She asked, earning some smiles from the group of girls.

"Well, we were thinking that now would be a good time to give you the Baby Shower part of this surprise." Andrea told her. That made her feel pretty excited and she nodded. The girls then pulled her aside to a corner, where the rest of the girls had gathered and they were holding some neatly wrapped gifts. Andrea ushered her to sit down on an armchair.

"Now, let's begin." She said as soon as she took a seat herself with Val. The other girls nodded and, one by one, began to give their gifts for Melinda to open up. The first she opened was a cute, caramel colored teddy bear to which was met with a series of `awws.'

"Thank you Jane, it's really cute." She said to the short haired brunette who smiled back. Next, she opened one from a red headed girl named Tiara, from 6th year. It was an assortment of baby stuff; it had a bottle, a pale green blanket, some diapers, and a cute pair of white socks with cute animal prints on it. Mel grinned and thanked her as well for the wonderful gift; it would surely be useful. She went through about twenty more other gifts, the last two being from Val and Andrea who had saved up their money to give her the best gift of all; a crib that could magically build itself. She hugged her two best friends and almost got teary eyed.

Unfortunately for them, the time went by rather quickly, and soon they had to clean up the mess and go off to have their last few classes of the day. By then Melinda was put in a very good mood. At the end of the day, she and George went to hang out by the lake and asked her where she was the entire lunch period. Mel told him what her Hufflepuff friends did for her. He thought it was really nice of them, but then pouted after he thought it over.

"Well, that's not much fair. I wasn't there to partake on it and give you a present." He said, feigning hurt. She chuckled a little and pecked his cheek.

"Don't worry about it, you can still make it up to me." She said, and he raised a curious eyebrow at that.

"How do you suggest I make it up to you, Mel?" He questioned, and she looked up at him.

"I thought you were the brilliant mind here. Think of something." She challenged, to which the ginger boy couldn't help but grin in return.

"Alright then, I think I already know what to do." He said, leaning down and capturing her lips with his. She blushed hard at the sudden kiss, but her eyes soon closed to welcome it. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her even closer to him. No matter how many times they shared a kiss, Melinda always felt that familiar sense of comfort and happiness to have him by her side. Then, she felt George slip something into her hands, and she had to open her eyes and pull away to look down.

"What's the- oh.." She cut herself of as she stared at a golden colored bracelet, with trinkets in the shape of stars, suns and moons handing off of it.

"Oh my George, this is beautiful." She said breathlessly, to which he smiled and pecked her cheek.

"Happy 16th birthday, Mel." He said to her, and she looked back up to him with a smile. Every aspect of that day was wonderful, and there was no room for her to complain at all.

The couple spent a while longer near the lake, until they decided to get up and head back inside. Dusk began to settle in and with that, dinner time approached. Mel sat with her best friends as usual and they chatted about the party earlier on, George's gift to her, and the coming of her baby next month.

"You must be excited for it." Andrea said, watching her friend eat some coconut cream pie for dessert. Melinda nodded to her and drank some cranberry juice.

"Yes, but I'm a little nervous too. You know how some say it really hurt to..." She trailed off, and the three of them shuddered at the thought.

"W-well, I'm sure it'll be fine." Valerie said with a nervous grin. Feeling that the subject had taken an awkward turn, they went back to the gift George had given her, which she was now wearing on her right wrist.

"That is such a pretty bracelet." Andrea complimented. Mel blushed a little with a smile and nodded.

"Isn't it, I love it." She said, inspecting the endearing present. She knew she'd be a fool if she didn't like George, which is why she was glad she did. The boy knew exactly how to make her laugh, smile, stop being depressed, and altogether feel happy.

Shortly after dinner, she met up with her boyfriend and gave him a goodnight kiss since she and the girls were heading to bed already. George was happy about the kiss, and gave her an embrace as well before they parted ways for the night. When the three reached the dorm, they got themselves ready for bed, but there was something on the bed Melinda had not spotted before. Curiously, she approached her bed and took a slightly lumpy, wrapped up paper that lay on top of her pillow. She felt that it weighed a little; something was inside. She carefully unwrapped it, until her eyes came upon a pair of silver earrings. She blinked and looked at the wraps, which was actually a letter.

_Dear Melinda,_

_Happy Birthday, I hope you like your present._

That was all it said. Mel blinked and read over it again, but nothing else. No signed name or any indication as to who gave it to her.

'Hm, who's this from?' She thought curiously, before looking at the earrings that were in the shape of crescent moons.

"What you got there Mel?" Andrea asked as she looked up from her bed. Melinda hid the earrings for some reason.

"Oh nothing, just one of the girls left a letter wishing happy birthday to me." She excused, and Andrea didn't press on as she gave a yawn, clearly tired.

"Alright, well, goodnight then." She said as she pulled the curtains over her bed. "Night Val!" She called out.

"Night! Night Mel!" Val called out from her bed as well, her curtains already drawn.

"Goodnight." She said back with a smile, doing the same with her curtains and laying down on her bed. She brought the earrings back out and stared at them. There was just something them that made her feel a little odd, but she didn't know why. Shaking the weird feeling off, Melinda put the gift away with the letter, and made herself comfortable under the bedsheets before closing her eyes to go to sleep.


	18. Uh Oh

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

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'Who could've sent that pair of earrings to me?' That thought would not leave Melinda's mind one instance, not even after a long night of sleep. This sudden gift and anonymous letter reminded her of that beautiful and expensive necklace she had gotten for Christmas. She munched on her bowl of cereal and absentmindedly glanced out the tall windows of the Great Hall; it was a cloudy day. Valerie and Andrea were talking about yesterday's surprise party slash baby shower still, and Val thought rather pompously that their present was the best out of all the others.

"I mean, not to brag or anything, but I doubt any of those girls ever thought to give you such a useful gift." She said with a twinkle in her eye. Andrea shook her head a little, her being the most modest of course and not openly admitting to it. George still pouted, but this time he was also joined by Fred.

"We still feel left out of the special moment...and fun." Fred said pitifully and fake sniffed. George nodded in agreement and snaked an arm around Melinda's waist.

"Exactly, I mean as Mel's boyfriend I ought to have been present." He stated. The two girls shook their heads at the twins.

"Well, why don't you complain to Cedric? He gave the idea and set things up...well partially, since the baby shower was my part." Val added in at the end. George gave a grunt and narrowed his eyes a bit in the direction of the 6th year Hufflepuff boy.

"You know, I'm starting to get a bit suspicious about that guy. Why would he do such a thing all of a sudden?" That was the question that everybody was wondering about, but never actually spoke it out of their minds.

"Yeah, I agree. Does Cedric have a crush on you or something, Mel?" Fred suddenly asked, nudging her playfully. The mention of that only made George tighten his grip on her, and she cleared her throat a bit.

"Doubt it. He's just a very nice guy trying to help out a friend, is all." Melinda assured, already feeling Valerie's eyes start to burn with a little bit of jealousy. Andrea scratched her head, and decided not to say what she thought near Val.

"Well, it's too bad for him that she's taken." George finalized with a nod, leaning down and pecking Melinda's cheek. She blushed a little and gave half a smile to that. After that small awkward moment, they all finished breakfast and went some place to hang out before classes started. George held Melinda's hand as they walked, as if to assert even more that she was his and no one else's. To a certain degree she thought it was a tad bit funny and cute of him to be jealous, but the thought of Cedric having a crush on her was very strange to her.

'He couldn't have...could he? No, there would be no reason. It's just silly, he's with Cho Chang.' She tried not to get her mind too wrapped up in that. They finally gathered by a stairway that lead up to one of the towers and sat down on the steps.

"So, the baby's going to be here in just a few days, huh? You getting ready for it?" Andrea asked with a smile. Melinda nodded and looked down at her stomach.

"I'm getting a little impatient for it, actually. At the same time I'm not sure I'm fully prepared for when it comes..." She mumbled, running a hand over her belly.

"You'll be when the time comes. I asked mum, and she said that it's natural to feel nervous before, but once it's time to give birth, you'll be ready." George said, gently stroking her cheek. Fred grinned a bit and nodded.

"Yep! And she mentioned a few other details that I thought she should've spared us from, but..." He trailed off for a dramatic effect and earned a light and playful shove from Mel.

"Don't even dare mentioning what those other details are, I want to go through this as smoothly as possible." She mumbled with a slight pout. Andrea and Valerie chuckled and moved a little closer to touch her stomach.

"Have you been feeling a lot of contractions lately?" Andrea asked while having her eyes locked on her large belly.

"Yeah, I've been having them more often now, since it's close to the due date. Madam Pomfrey said it's normal so I'm not worried." Her friend nodded at that and finally removed her hand with Val.

"Are you going to tell us your selection of names yet? I've been dying to know~" Val whined, much like a little kid. At that Melinda gave a slight laugh.

"Well my friend, you'll be left in the dark because I won't tell until I know the gender of the baby." She taunted, earning a grumble and a pout from the dirty blonde. Andrea grinned and unlike Val didn't push Melinda to tell her.

"It's your kid, so do what you want I guess." She shrugged. George glanced to Fred, then went over to his girlfriend's ear.

"Would you tell _me_?" He asked in a whisper, hoping to be an exception. There was no such luck for him as she shook her head with amusement dancing in her eyes.

"Sorry dear, but you will only know when the time comes, just like the rest." She said, lightly tugging at his bangs. He stuck his tongue out at her before placing a kiss on her jaw, making her flush.

"Hey now, don't get it on in front of us." Fred said, not able to help himself on the joke. George playfully narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"Thanks for ruining my chance, Freddie." The other twin gave a small bow of the head to that.

"You're very welcome, Georgie." The other three laughed at their antics. Melinda didn't think it was ever possible for the two of them to actually be mad at one another, ever.

Unfortunately, the time they spent talking and joking ticked by rather quickly, and they soon heard the sound of the bell ringing. With a few groans, they shuffled and got up to head off to their first period class. George gave a quick peck on Mel's lips and went off with Fred. The Hufflepuff trio proceeded to their Transfiguration class then.

"I'm so tired of practicing the vanishing spell. Is that even going to be in the OWLs?" Val questioned, to which Andrea shrugged.

"I don't know, but if Professor McGonagall is making us practice it so much, then you can bet that it probably will be in there somewhere." Valerie sighed when she said that, slumping down on her seat once they arrived in the classroom.

"This stinks." She laid her head down on the desk and gave a muffled sigh. Melinda smiled a little sympathetically while she took her seat in between the two. Transfiguration was something Valerie wasn't really strong at, second to Arithmancy of course.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine Val." She assured, giving her a small pat on the back. It took a minute before Valerie straightened herself up again and gave her a tentative grin.

"Thanks Mel." The caramel haired girl nodded back to her. The last bell rang and the remaining students entered the room before McGonagall started to hand out practice written exams to everyone.

"Very well, let us begin with a few written exercises. You have 20 minutes to do what you can. You may begin." She instructed curtly, and everyone set to work on it right away.

* * *

"Forget Transfiguration, I'm going to dread Potions. Oh dear, I really don't want Snape to be in there when we take it." The poor dirty blonde groaned during lunch. Andrea rolled her eyes and shook her a little.

"Hey, you're not the only one freaking out about it, so just relax and do your best. You still have two months to get yourself ready." The brunette said, trying to be supportive, but Val thought it was just her nagging.

"Easy for you to say. I bet you and Mel will get Outstanding on it." At that Andrea snorted in disbelief.

"It'll be a miracle if I get that kind of grade. Don't you know I mix up a lot of the instructions?" She sighed and hung her head a little. Melinda raised an eyebrow at them.

"Geez, you two are being really pessimistic about this. I'm pregnant, and I can barely do any brewing or spells because it might cause harm to my baby. I should be the one needing a miracle to pass the exams in June." At that, the other two shut their mouths.

"I haven't thought about that, sorry." Andrea said in a low voice, feeling slightly ashamed. Valerie could only nod in agreement. Melinda shrugged and continued to eat her lunch, not really taking it seriously. After they were done with their food, Melinda joined the twins at their table this time.

"There's our favorite pregnant girl. What took you?" George asked as she took the vacant seat next to him.

"I have to eat too, you know." She said half jokingly. He grinned and kissed her cheek, and Melinda returned the gesture. Angelina Johnson smiled at their exchange while Lee Jordan grinned big.

"If I didn't know better I could swear you were the dad, George." He commented, to which Fred quickly pipped in.

"I said that too!" They couldn't help but laugh at that afterwards. Once it died down, Angelina leaned over a little towards Mel.

"Hey, can you tell me who the real father is?" She asked, almost pleadingly. At the request, Melinda became a little nervous and tense. George must've sensed that, because the hand holding hers tightened a little on its grip and he shook his head to Angelina.

"Sorry Angie, but that subject is strictly forbidden." She blinked, but backed down from it after noticing it was a sensitive topic for Mel.

"So, err," Lee started off, trying to divert the direction of the discussion. "You plan to be there in the room with her?" He questioned George. He nodded without any hesitation.

"Of course! You think I'll let my pretty little girlfriend go through it by herself?" Melinda smiled at that; it was really sweet of George to be so supportive and caring of her. Angelina seemed to think the same.

"You're really something, George Weasley. But she won't be alone you know, she'll have medics around to help her out." She pointed out, but he just brushed her off.

"That doesn't count. They'll be there to help her get the baby out, while I'll be there for moral support." He nodded. Fred chuckled and patted his shoulder.

"That is, if you don't accidentally get a peek and faint from what you see beforehand." That comment made both Melinda and George flush hard, earning laughs from the others.

"N-Nicely put, Fred." Lee snickered, wiping a tear from his eye. "But will they let you be in the room? I thought they only allowed relatives only." He said as an afterthought.

"If they don't I'll give them my consent for him to be in there with me...that is, if he doesn't chicken out on the last minute." She glanced to George who gave a nervous chuckle.

"Of course not, I'll definitely be awake for the whole thing, haha." He then busied himself with drinking the last of his juice. She shook her head, trying hard not to laugh at his nervousness with her expectations of him.

Having finished up, the twins got up and headed out of the Great Hall with Melinda. Knowing the two wanted to spend some time alone, Fred instantly gave a poor excuse to head off. George grinned and took Mel with him to sit at a nearby bench.

"I'm really getting excited for this little guy to come out." He said as he leaned his head down and placed his ear against her stomach, trying to see if he could hear it kick or something. Melinda chuckled lightly at that.

"How do you know if it's a guy, hm?" He looked up at her and gave a sheepish grin.

"You know what I meant, I'll be just fine with a little girl, so long as she looks like her mum." That comment made Melinda's cheeks heat up.

"Oh please." She mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed with his words. His grin turned into a slight smirk as he leaned up and kissed her neck.

"You're beautiful Mel, don't deny that. Plus, I rather the baby look like you than that stupid Malfoy git." He muttered the last part more quietly. She sighed a little, but couldn't defend the boy after all that he said to her.

'Why do I still feel so uneasy about that? It's not like I was in the wrong.' She thought. She was drawn back to reality when George turned her face to look right at him. His thumb gently stroked her cheek, and he leaned forward, capturing her lips with his. Melinda slowly closed her eyes and kissed him back. George's intention was to get a quick make out before they had to return to their classes, but that was proved unsuccessful when she felt a sharp pain, causing her to wince a little and pull away.

"Ouch." George blinked and looked at her with concern written all over his face now.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling any pain?" He asked instantly. Melinda took a deep breath and shook her head.

"Don't worry it was just a small contraction, nothing serious." She assured. He was a little hesitant to believe it at first, but then nodded.

"If you say so." He waited until she gave off no signs of being in pain before initiating another kiss. Yet again something got in the way of his plan, or rather someone. Snape had just come around the corner at that exact time and cleared his throat, a smug look on his face. That made the both of them abruptly end the kiss and pull away from each other.

"10 points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Each." He said, feeling rather pleased to have caught them in such a state just so he could punish them with taking points out of their houses. He walked off, causing George to sigh a little.

"Some luck we've got. Oh well." He ended up shrugging it off and standing up with Mel.

"I'll see you after classes, right?" She smiled and nodded. "Of course." George looked around before sneaking a quick kiss from her. She chuckled when he pulled away and he winked at her.

"See you later." He said and walked off. She stood there for a moment with a small smile on her face, then turned away to leave. The moment she turned the corner, however, a hand grasped her arm and pulled her off to another hall. She gasped and barely had any time to react to it, when the person that had grabbed her suddenly stopped when they were some place alone.

"What the-" She froze when she saw it was Draco. He looked at her with a serious expression on his face.

"You know, I really hate it when I can't get a goodnight sleep because of the things you said to me." He started off in a low tone, but she noticed a small portion of anger and frustration behind it. She was about to retort when he put his hand to her mouth to keep her quiet.

"No, you're going to listen to me now." He growled. "Who are you to call me selfish when I'm going behind my parents' backs to help you out?" Melinda yanked his hand from her mouth and glared at him.

"I never told you to go behind their backs, it's your choice to hide this from them, not mine. The only reason I'm not making a fuss about it is because I know it'll be too much trouble if they find out the truth, and I'll end up paying for the consequences of this instead of you." She said, huffing at the end. Draco stared at her, not saying a word for the meantime.

"Why are you even trying to talk to me? I've clearly stated before that I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore, and I also remember saying that I don't need your stupid money-"

"It's not about the money, Valkyrie!" He cut her off with a hiss. That made her shut her mouth, his sudden tone of voice startling her into a minor shock. He grabbed her arms and gripped them a little too hard.

"This is about me trying to make up for the stupid mistake on my part back at the pub. Can you at least let me do that without criticizing me?" He asked, feeling exasperated. Melinda said nothing, her eyes just staring at him in dead silence. When her lips parted to say something, she instead withdrew and shut her eyes tightly as she felt another one of those sharp pains in her stomach, this time a little stronger. Draco seemed to forget what they were talking about and he instantly let go of her arms.

"What's the matter? What's going on?" He started asking, and even though she was in a little pain she was able to detect concern in his voice.

"N-Nothing, just contractions." She mumbled, biting her lip and hugging her stomach. He was lost on what to do, so he hesitantly rubbed her back to try and soothe her a little. After about 5 minutes, Melinda heaved a sigh when it went away. She straightened up and Draco pulled his hand away almost instantly.

"Does that...happen very often?" He questioned in a mumble.

"Sometimes." She said, giving him a side glance. For a moment she thought she saw relief wash over his face. He nodded a little, then looked down. Something caught his eye and he raised an eyebrow.

"Are you leaking?" Melinda blinked at that weird question. "What are you-" She paused as she just now noticed the weird sensation of something running down her legs. A slight panic struck her as her eyes began to widen.

"Oh dear god..." Draco looked up at her, feeling alarmed now.

"What? What's happening now?" He asked urgently. Melinda didn't answer him right away, still trying to register in her mind what was happening right at that moment.

"Valkyrie, answer me!" He pressured her. She gulped and was slightly reluctant in responding to him.

"I-I think it's time." She stuttered a little, her face starting to pale. Malfoy furrowed his eyebrows at first, but then his eyes widened as it dawned on him.

"You mean..." Melinda nodded before he could even finish his sentence.

"The baby's coming."


	19. Carina

**Hey you guys! Sorry for the wait, but I had a full-house this week so I was rather busy, hehe. Well, here's the 19th chapter to Secrets to Keep, and I hope you guys like it! Don't forget to vote on the poll for my Pirates of the Caribbean story plot! There are no votes yet so if you could please give one little vote to help move on ;) I'd greatly appreciate it.  
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**As always, thank you so much for the reviews! Keep reviewing for this story and others to come, it makes me happy and more motivated to update! x)  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

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"Could you stop gripping my hand so tightly?" Said Draco through gritted teeth as he tried to help Melinda to the Hospital Wing. It was quite hard, considering they kept having to stop every few minutes whenever she felt strong contractions. Melinda breathed in and out and gave him a slight glare through a pained expression.

"D-Does it look like I'm d-doing it on purpose?" She mustered out, trying not to wince at another stab in her stomach. He was about to retort, but then thought better and decided to just continue through the hall, praying to God that he would reach the Hospital Wing soon.

'At least no one is around to see this.' He thought. He knew for sure that if he was caught by his Slytherin friends in this situation they would not let him forget it for the rest of his life.

"Are..a-are we almost there?" She asked in a low voice. He glanced to her, then looked back ahead.

"If you quit having to stop every few seconds then we might." He muttered back, and winced right after when she gripped his arm tightly; for some odd reason he felt that one was not because of the pain she felt.

'Come on, just a little further.' He chanted in his mind as soon as they rounded a corner, and right down the hall was the door to their destination. He tried to hurry up, but was still cautious so as to not cause her any harm, after all she was going to have his baby pretty soon. Strangely enough, he felt incredibly nervous inside, a nervousness he never felt before, except maybe when Melinda first told him that she was pregnant with his child. Now, at this moment, him holding her around the waist and helping her reach the Hospital Wing, he wanted nothing more than to make sure that she would get through this alright. This scared the young Malfoy because he never really cared for anyone like this before.

'But it's my baby...' He tried to reason, then shook his head and kept on going. He almost breathed hallelujah when they went through the door and he shouted for Madam Pomfrey. The nurse came out of the infirmary room rather startled by his shouts for help, but gasped when she saw the state Melinda was in.

"Oh dear! Is it time already?" She asked, but wasted no time to hear an answer as she ushered Draco to take her into the infirmary and lay her on one of the beds.

"Goodness me, don't worry my dear, you just take deep breaths and hold until I come back with some help. You'll be just fine." She assured, not even giving Draco a second glance before she was out of there, as quick as the wind. The young Slytherin boy came up to Melinda's side and frowned a little; her face was already turning pale and she was beginning to sweat a little.

"Still hurting?" He questioned hesitantly. Mel, who was taking deep breaths as instructed, gave him a quick annoyed look.

"What do you think?" He flinched slightly, then narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't snap at me, I was just asking-" He was cut short when she gave a yelp as a strong contraction hit her.

"Oh god...make this stop already." She groaned softly, not wanting to bear the pain any longer. Draco had no idea what to do to help ease her; this was completely alien to him and he had no experience with childbirth whatsoever. He could honestly say that he had never felt any dumber before then.

'What am I still doing here?' He questioned himself, surprised by his present attitude. Did he really want to stay with her during this? Just the look on her face sent shivers down his spine and he had no clue if he could even handle being there for the entire thing.

"Draco?" Mel's voice suddenly called out. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her, the irritation he felt from her previous actions long gone from his mind to be replaced with concern.

"What is it? Do you need something?" He asked in a heartbeat. She gave a shake of her head, then fell silent for a minute. Draco frowned slightly, not liking the silence she was creating; it almost suffocated him.

"Come on, say it already, you're making me freak out." He said, barely able to prevent himself from stuttering in the process.

"It's just...are you going to be here during it?" She asked, catching him off guard. Draco gave her a puzzled look first, then found the ability to speak again.

"Well...do you want me to stay?" He was surprising himself more and more with the way he was suddenly acting. Was it natural to behave unlike yourself? Did this happen to every first time father?

"It's up to you, really." She muttered. "But since you're the father, I think you should stay..." She added as an afterthought. Nodding, Draco said nothing more. That's it, he was going to stay for it. Melinda was right, he was the father and he had every right to witness the birth of his child. After about 10 minutes, when Melinda could scarcely take the painful contractions anymore, a team of mediwitches and mediwizards rushed in with Madam Pomfrey; they were called in from St. Mungo's Hospital to aid her in the childbirth. With them was brought a bowl of hot water and some towels that magically floated behind them, placing themselves on a table nearby.

"Yes, I can see you are ready to deliver." The leader of the team said with smile to Melinda, then turned to the rest and began to give curt directions on what they ought to do. Draco stood a few steps back, watching all this with half amazement and confusion. they placed a long sheet over Melinda and took off her bottoms, to which he blushed and looked away. The mediwizard spread her legs and told her to take deep breaths still while the rest got everything set up.

"Nng!" Mel shut her eyes as the contractions became stronger and more frequent. One seemed to notice this, because about two minutes later she was being instructed to push and relax, push and relax. Melinda did that to the best of her ability, but she felt as if she was going to faint from how tiring that process was. Draco's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and he stood petrified in the spot. Madam Pomfrey approached him, finally realizing he was still there and began to tug him out.

"Come now Mr. Malfoy, this is not for you to witness!" She said hurriedly. He looked at her, the look of shock still evident on his face.

"I..." He couldn't even formulate words to respond to her, but even as she tugged at his arm his body wouldn't move from there.

"N-No! I-I want him to stay..Madam..." Melinda managed to say between pants. Madam Pomfrey turned to her, rather shocked at her request. She then glanced at Draco, and reluctantly let go of his arm before backing away to help the mediwitches with the towels.

"A few more pushes Miss Valkyrie, the baby's almost here." Said the mediwizard. Melinda gave a slight nod, and took one more deep breath before pushing again and again. Draco barely noticed himself moving to her side and grasping her hand while she did this, and she grasped it back.

"This is too much...I can't take it anymore!" Mel said after half an hour in labor. She never thought that giving birth would be this painful, or that it would take this long.

"Don't give up now, you're doing just fine. A few more long pushes and it should do, come on." Coaxed a mediwitch near her as she wiped Melinda's forehead. Her eyes were leaking tears, as all she wanted was the pain to be over, for her baby to be born and to hold it in her arms.

"You can do it, Mel." She heard Draco's voice whisper near her ear. Hearing those words, she tried to gather what strength she had left to continue on. Another 15 minutes went by when she heard the mediwizard say the head was already coming out. That filled her with hope of it ending soon, and even encouraged her to give three last pushes. After 5 minutes elapsed her ears caught the sound of crying, and she knew then that it was finally over.

"There, there. It's done now. You did a wonderful job, Miss Valkyrie." Praised one mediwitch with a smile. Melinda barely heard her through her quick pants and the sound of her infant crying still. Draco was paralyzed as he stared at the baby being cleaned by the rest of the healers from St. Mungo. Madam Pomfrey was greatly relieved and happy that everything went smoothly. The mediwitch that had been next to her during the entire process then wrapped the child in a yellow blanket and slowly approached Melinda with a comforting smile on her face.

"Congratulations, it's a girl." She said to her. Hearing that, Melinda broke a weak smile.

"My baby...a little girl..." She whispered, but then her vision began to blur, and everything suddenly went black. Melinda could only hear the sound of many voices talking in a hurried pace, before she fainted.

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"Melinda...Mel? Can you hear me?" Was the first thing she heard as she began to regain consciousness. Her eyes opened slowly and her vision came to focus on the two faces of her friends. Andrea had a look of relief when she saw her awake.

"Thank goodness Mel! We were so worried for you." She said. Valerie leaned over and gave her a light hug.

"You scared the beejesus out of us, you know that?" She pulled away, revealing a faint smile on her lips. Melinda was greatly confused with what was going on at the moment.

"What are you talking about? What happened?" She asked. Her two friends looked at each other, then stared back at her.

"You fainted right after you gave birth, Mel." Andrea told her, and the realization began to sink in.

"Where's my baby?" Melinda instantly asked, feeling her heart begin to race at the absence of her daughter in the room.

"Oh! I'll go get Madam Pomfrey." Val volunteered and hurried off while Andrea tried to ease Mel. A second after Val went out George came in, nearly slipping on the floor. He looked over, panting hard in indication that he was probably running to get there.

"Oh god, Mel." He said once he got to her bedside, planting a light kiss on her forehead.

"I came as soon as I heard about it." Melinda could only stare back at him for the first few minutes. Seeing that, Andrea did the speaking with George for her.

"How did you find out?" She asked curiously, and the Weasley boy gave her a slight grin.

"I have connections." He joked with a wink. Shaking her head, she then looked back at Mel who was looking to the door, waiting anxiously to see her child. Valerie came in followed by Madam Pomfrey just in time to end her anguish. The Hogwarts nurse was carrying a yellow bundle in her arms as she slowly approached Melinda's bed.

"I see that you're awake now, Miss Valkyrie. You fainted from exhaustion right after you had your baby." She explained in a soft tone, then offered the bundle to Melinda, who gently took it in her arms. She then came face to face with her daughter for the first time, and her heart instantly melted. She had honey colored eyes, a slightly pale skin, and had a completely bald head. She was the most beautiful baby Melinda had ever seen. Her friends closed in to have a look on one side, and George on the other.

"Aww~!" The girls instantly chanted together. Melinda grinned and lightly stroked her baby's cheek; she was squirming a little and her eyes were constantly moving, looking everywhere she could.

"My little girl." Mel mumbled, her tone of voice filled with love and adoration for the infant. George looked at how Melinda stared at her child, and he never thought a girl could look so pretty. The sheer sight of her admiring her daughter brought warmth to his own heart, and a sincere smile broke through.

'I guess this is the perfect picture of what they call, _a mother's love_.' He thought, reaching over and lightly caressing the little girl's head.

"Did you give her a name yet?" Valerie suddenly asked, making Melinda blink in surprise.

"In fact, I didn't. I should probably do that now." She said and stared at the baby in her arms for a few seconds. Even though she was just a baby, Melinda could see some traces on her face that clearly belonged to her father. She then knew exactly what to call her.

"Carina." She decided on. Her two friends nodded in approval to the name.

"That's simple, classy, pretty easy to remember." Val said, jokingly at the last part. Andrea nudged her playfully and smiled at Mel.

"Congratulations my friend, she's a beautiful little girl." Andrea praised her, making Mel feel even more special. George pecked her cheek in turn and lightly nuzzled her neck.

"It's too bad I missed out on it all, but I would've probably fainted halfway through." He said with a light chuckle. She smiled in return and kissed his cheek back, but then her eyes began to wander around the room in search of something, or someone. Valerie noticed this and instantly questioned it.

"Are you looking for something Mel?" She turned her head to her, then gave a light shake of her head.

"No, nothing." Melinda looked back down at her child, their eyes locking for a moment. Her mind went back to when she was giving birth, and how she had held on to Draco's hand as she was doing the pushing. Melinda couldn't help but wonder what happened to him after she fainted; had he stayed a little longer? Was he gone right after she lost consciousness? Was he even able to get a good look at his daughter? Many questions buzzed through her head, and she pushed them all aside for later. Right now, all Melinda wanted to do was focus on her little Carina, who began to give light cries of hunger. As if she knew that was coming, Madam Pomfrey ushered the other three out of the infirmary so Mel could feed her daughter in peace.

"We'll come back later to see how you two are doing." Andrea said as they were being 'kicked out' of the room. George blew her a kiss right before receiving a light push from the nurse, irritated by the delay of their exit. She shot Melinda a kind smile and then closed the wooden doors.

"Well, guess it's just me and you now." She said, staring down at the squirming child. Chuckling lightly, she began to feed her hungry little girl while gently cooing, loving every moment she spent with her in her arms. No feeling could compare to this moment, the bond between a mother and daughter that they already shared. Right then, Melinda felt the happiest yet.


	20. A Moment of Weakness

**Here's Chapter 20 of Secrets to Keep! Once again, I ask that you guys review a LOT and PLEASE vote on my poll for POTC story plot? Pretty please? ;) Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

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It has now been three days since Carina's birth. Martha, the caretaker, was called on to come to the school by the headmaster as soon as he heard the news that Melinda had given light to her infant. It did not take long before she was there and helping the young Hufflepuff girl take care of her small child. Martha wanted to give as little trouble for Melinda as possible, so she suggested that she take care of Carina for the most part, while Mel only had to worry about feeding her. However, Mel seemed so attached to her child already that she would not hear of it, and insisted on holding her and lulling her to sleep in her arms every night. Melinda could consider herself lucky, because Carina rarely woke up crying in the middle of the night; she began to think that most of her daughter's temper was inherited from her, because were she like Draco she would probably give her hell during her sleeping time. Earlier that morning Madam Pomfrey had told Melinda that she was excused from her lessons for two more days, but that didn't mean she couldn't get some studying done for the OWLs.

Melinda, although knowing she needed to use her time wisely to get ready for her upcoming tests, kept having her mind sidetracked by both Carina and Draco. The latter was mostly her wondering why he had not come to visit his child yet. She couldn't help but feel odd in the absence of his presence; she managed to shrug it off most of the time, but he always managed to find his way back into her mind. She relied heavily on the constant visits from her two best friends and her boyfriend George and his twin Fred. Surprisingly enough, even the Golden Trio came once to meet the baby, and Mel felt that that was partially due to George's persistence to give her a little support; it was welcomed nonetheless. Cedric had paid her a visit on the second day as well, congratulating her on a beautiful daughter and once again stressing that if she needed anything to not hesitate to ask him. It still puzzled her how he was so caring and supportive of her, and apparently George did not like his closeness to her one bit.

"I don't know, it seems a little fishy to me how he acts around you." He commented as he watched the brown haired boy head out of the Hospital Wing after having visited Melinda another time. Mel shook her head at his words, and gave a slight smile.

"I think it's just you being a little jealous." She teased lightly. "He just likes to show his support for the students in his House, that's all. You and Fred always talk how he's exceedingly pompous and somewhat arrogant, but I couldn't disagree more with you two." He turned to look at her incredulously, and almost in mock shock.

"I am not jealous, and we don't think he's exceedingly pompous, just _generally_ pompous." He corrected, as if that slight change made it any better. Shaking her head, Mel looked back down at the bundle in her arms, finding Carina's eyes turning here and there and all round her. She could tell that her baby was going to be the observant type from how much her eyes seemed to wander from place to place. George leaned over next to Mel's face and reached his hand over, gently caressing Carina's head, and that instantly made her tiny arms squirm a little from the sudden contact. He grinned and retracted his hand from her. There was a moment of silence, when he began to speak again.

"Mel, did he show up again at all?" He questioned softly. Melinda tried not to show the slight disappointment she felt as she gave a shake of her head. On the first night since Carina was born, she told Andrea, Valerie and George how she had been with Draco when her water broke, and how he was the one that helped her to the Hosptial Wing and stayed with her during the childbirth. They were all shocked, to say the least, but George seemed to almost envy Draco for being there by her side while he himself couldn't.

"Well, can't say I didn't expect that from him." He muttered, then ended the subject right there. He spent another 10 minutes with Melinda and her daughter before he had to leave for classes, giving her once again a period of solitude. Even with Carina and Martha being there, she still disliked those moments when she couldn't be with her friends, hanging out with them, eating with them, all those normal things she used to do. True, she was going to return to classes in two days, but that seemed so distant in the future it made her feel a bit impatient sometimes. While Martha rocked Carina for an afternoon nap, Melinda buried her face in her textbooks, trying to get as much studying done as she could that day due to her slacking off a little the day before. Just when she was getting concentrated, her mind began to bother her once more.

'Will he come anytime soon or continue to avoid me?' She thought, her eyes beginning to wander from her book to stare blindly at her bed sheets. Seeing this, Martha came up and lightly shook her shoulder. Snapping out of her thoughts, she looked up at her and gave a sly smile before returning to her studies. Nodding in approval, Martha walked away again while rocking an already sleeping Carina. When her back was turned, Mel started to discreetly submerge herself into her mind again while pretending to read her book.

'He can't ignore his own daughter for so long, can he? He ought to come visit her soon enough...and me I hope...no, what am I thinking? This is about Carina and Carina **only**!' Dissatisfied with turn of her thoughts, she tried to once again focus on her studies.

'I'm beginning to think like Valerie in regards to the exams.'

* * *

In the late afternoon, George came back with Fred to see how Melinda and Carina were doing. They meekly gave a 'hello' to Martha before she left to get herself something to eat; Carina was inside her crib that Andrea and Valerie gave to Mel during the Baby Shower. Fred and George had the _intention_ of studying together with Melinda, but obviously that idea was easily cast away and they managed to convince her to take a break from the books to hang out with the two.

"How do you like being a mum?" Fred curiously asked her. Mel gave a small shrug, but couldn't hide the smile on her face.

"It's not that hard I guess, but of course I have Martha to help me out most of the time." He nodded and glanced over to the crib where the small infant lay, soundly asleep. Grinning, George brushed a few loose strands of her hair back.

"I suppose Martha was a godsend for you, huh?" At that she didn't give the slightest hesitation in agreeing.

"If it wasn't for her I probably wouldn't be able to get much studying done for the OWLs...then again Carina doesn't give much trouble, I think." She said, her eyes looking over to the crib herself. George watched her and could see the fondness she had for her daughter, he couldn't blame her either as her baby was the cutest he's ever seen since his sister Ginny was born.

"Well, you're going to have your work cut out for you after school's over...hey do you know if you're even coming back next year?" Melinda looked back at Fred and shook her head.

"I don't know yet, I haven't talked to the Headmaster about it. I wish I could, but at the same time..." She thought of perhaps leaving Carina under the care of Martha, but she did not want to impose on her caretaker more than she already was. She knew she had an elderly mother whom she took care of periodically, and now with Carina being born Melinda felt like she was stripping away her time with her mother by having her look after her daughter while she finished off this year.

"Hey, if things don't work out then that's fine. You do what's best for you and your baby girl." He said, noticing that he made Melinda feel conflicted with herself and, not wanting to make her have any more worries tried to brush it off with that. George shook his head at his brother's sad attempt to dismiss the subject and turned back to her.

"Forget what this blockhead said, just focus on getting your rest before you start classes again." He told her, giving her a small peck on the cheek. Fred nudged his brother a little, his face coloring a bit in embarrassment. George smirked, and to that Fred gave a fake huff and stood up from the edge of the bed.

"Well, I think two little birds are in need of some privacy, and seeing as I'm not exactly included in such a moment...adieu~" He teased, and with a gracious wave of his hand, he backed out of the room. The couple lightly chuckled at his exit before looking at each other now. George made the first move and caressed Mel's cheek with his thumb, gently and lovingly, and as usual making her blush. He loved making her flush like that, so he did it as often as he could to savor the effect he had on her.

"You're almost the color of a tomato." He further teased to make her even more embarrassed. He succeeded when she went another shade of red and buried her face against chest.

"Mmff..stop that." Came her muffled response. He grinned and pulled back a little to take her chin and tilt her face up to look at him.

"It's okay though, you look cute when you blush." With that, he leaned down and captured her lips with his in a deep, longing kiss. It didn't take long for her to return it, and she even loosely wrapped her arms around his neck. George's hands instinctively went around her waist and gripped it just right as he further deepened it. Kissing Melinda proved to be a rather extraordinary experience for George, because whenever they locked lips, it seemed as if they were in their own little world, far from the real one, where they were not bothered by anyone or anything and it was just the two of them. It was an odd, yet incredible feeling he got from it, and he wouldn't trade it for the world if he could. He pulled away for air, but no sooner did he regain his breath that he was trailing light kisses down her neck. Melinda closed her eyes to the sensational feeling of his lips brushing over her skin like that.

"_Ahem_." Their eyes snapped opened and George instantly pulled away from her to look back. Martha stood there, arms crossed and with a straight face. Gulping, George felt his face light on fire and he hastily said a 'see you later' to Mel before heading out of the room. Melinda herself was a deep scarlet for being caught in such a moment by her caretaker. Martha gave her a knowing look, but said nothing and went over to the crib to check on Carina. Sighing a little, Mel tried to brush off the awkward situation by busying herself with her school textbooks.

The time seemed to go by slowly until dinner. Carina had woken up about half an hour before, feeling hungry and in need of attention, to which Melinda tended to both gladly. Martha had gone off to get some supper meanwhile. Melinda stood up from her bed and began to slowly walk about the room with Carina in her arms. She would whisper small childish things, conversing with the infant in a way that she faintly remembered her mother doing to herself when she was small. She was just in the middle of singing a lullaby to her when she heard footsteps come up from behind her. Curious as to who came to visit her this time, she turned and half expected to be George again, but it wasn't him. Instead, she stared back at a pair of blue eyes, and much too shocked to react right away she just stood like a stone in place.

Draco stared at Melinda, then his eyes trailed down to stop at the bundle in her arms. His eyes seemed to widen slightly, before he took a few tentative steps forward. Melinda remained frozen in place as he approached her at a very slow pace. Carina began to squirm a little in her arms at her being still for so long, and that seemed to knock her out of her stupor because she drew back a little.

"What are you doing here?" She found herself asking, in a slight condescending way. Stopping in response to her suddenly moving, he looked back up to her face.

"What do you mean? I came to see my kid." Draco said with a tone of irritation for being spoken to like that. Frowning, Melinda turned away from him while continuing to rock Carina.

"Then why didn't you do that earlier?" That question left Draco dumbstruck, and he could not respond back for some minutes. Judging by his silence, she felt he didn't have an answer to her question, so she took a few more steps before looking back to him.

"I think you should leave." Hearing that, his eyebrows furrowed and his face contorted into something like half hurt half anger.

"You can't tell me that, I'm the father!" He hissed, now confidently walking over and turning her fully around to stare down at his child. Carina's eyes began to wander again, until they finally locked on him. Draco's face softened a great deal after he came face to face with his newborn. Melinda felt helpless as this moment between him and their child occurred; she couldn't help the feeling of relief that came over her when he showed up. Her stubbornness from before began to dissipate, and her snub attitude grew weaker in spite of her knowing he didn't deserve her tolerance.

"Why didn't you come sooner? Why did you just leave?" Mel asked in a weak tone. He didn't take his eyes away from his daughter a single moment, but he readily gave his answer to her.

"I was scared, okay? I didn't know what to think or do after she was born. I-I guess the blood and the crying didn't help my nerves either." Melinda stifled a laugh, and though it didn't seem the best time for that, Draco didn't mind it as it lessened the tension between them a slight bit.

"Do you know her name?" Draco nodded without a second thought. "Yeah, Carina isn't it? I heard your two friends talking about it in the hall. It suits her.." Melinda gave a slight nod, and the two looked back down at their child. She was squirming again, so Melinda went back to rocking her some more. Draco did nothing but watch the two for the longest time, until Mel looked up at him again.

"Do you want to hold her?" The Slytherin boy's eyes widened, as if she had suggested the most horrifying thing to him.

"M-Me hold her? No I...I can't." Mel raised a questioning eyebrow at that. "Why can't you?" He looked away and remained silent for another few minutes.

"Well? What's the matter?" He bit his lip and, with embarrassment he said, "I'm afraid to drop her." Melinda could not hold her laughter this time, and it made Draco feel even worse about it.

"That won't happen, here." She came up close to him and slowly guided his arms around baby Carina, until she was safely put against his chest.

"There, you see? Just hold her like that and you won't have to worry about letting her fall." Draco stood petrified in the spot even with Mel's reassurance. His heart beat incredibly fast at how nervous he was to make even the slightest wrong movement, but upon looking down at Carina's face he began to calm down and grow used to having her in his arms. His lips even broke into a small and sincere smile, something that made Melinda react weirdly inside; it was like a feeling of butterflies in the pit of her stomach. She had never seen Draco look so serene before. After a while, he felt bold enough to relax his arms a little and walk around the room with his child, gently rocking her as he went on. The picture itself was priceless, especially to the mother who just stood back and watched this with astonishment and somewhat admiration.

"Why did you choose to name her 'Carina' of all names?" He suddenly asked, not stopping his smooth strides along the room. It took a minute for Melinda to recompose herself and answer that.

"Uh, well...I think I recall hearing that your family named their kids after stars and constellations or something of the sort, so I decided to follow that." She mumbled, not able to mask her reasoning behind choosing such a name. Draco himself was a little surprised at her saying that, and he even stopped to look at her.

"You followed my family tradition?" She blushed a slight bit and looked down at the ground, pretending to find it rather interesting right then. The young Malfoy began to make way back over to Mel, and once he reached her, he handed Carina back to her.

"Well, thanks for doing that...and about not coming sooner, I'm sorry." She stared at him and gave a small nod of understanding; she hated that she couldn't stay mad at him for long. Draco brushed his hand lightly over Carina's naked head, then looked at Melinda once again. The minute their eyes connected something strange began to occur between the two of them. Mel felt like she was in a trance of some sort, and Draco had a surreal feeling of being in a dream, captured in it by some strange spell. The moment was so odd, so unreal, that neither noticed the space between gradually closing. Both could feel their breaths against them, as their lips came nearly 1 inch from one another. The only thing that seemed to snap them back to reality was when Carina began cry softly. Draco pulled back instantly, his face showing shock, confusion, and fright altogether.

"I have to go." He said, and without wasting another second he exited out of the room in a hurry. Melinda did nothing but stand there.

'What just happened?' She thought, confused and disoriented by this peculiar incident between them. Carina's crying grew louder and Mel was forced to push that aside to tend to her daughter's needs.

Martha came back a while later and took over caring for the child once Mel was done feeding. The young Hufflepuff girl could barely keep herself concentrated on her studies when the moment between her and Draco kept replaying over and over in her head. Whatever happened, or rather, whatever _almost_ happened was much too unbelievable for Melinda to comprehend. Could it be that she was having a small relapse of her feelings for Draco? What about George then? They were going out and everything, and of course she liked him, but was it enough? Could she **love** George? Her feelings were much too disturbed and confused for her to know, so after a half hour failed attempt to study she laid back down on the bed, deciding to sleep on it instead.


	21. Doubts

**Sorry for the delay! Here's Chapter 21 hope you guys like it :3. Also, I saw someone voted on my poll; thank you so much whoever you are ****=) ****! But I need more votes, so please please if you have the time, do it for me. Thank you! Also, I very much appreciate the reviews, keep them up!**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

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It was Wednesday, the day Melinda was allowed out of the Hospital Wing. She was excited to go back to having classes and hanging out with her friends, but a little nervous as well. Now with Carina being born she felt that she would keep thinking about her constantly, even if she was under the great care of Martha. Also, what happened that night with Draco was making her uncomfortable with the thought of seeing him around school again.

"Well, how does it feel to be strolling around these halls again?" Valerie asked as she, Melinda and Andrea were walking towards the Great Hall for breakfast. They wanted to make sure they were the ones that accompanied her on her first day back; they even went as far as finding a way to make the twins not come with them, which was no easy task considering they were sneaky and could prank two anytime to get back at them.

"Feels the same, maybe a slight bit different now that I don't have a big stomach anymore." She joked a bit. The other two grinned and linked arms with her as they neared the entrance. As soon as they came through, George came up with Fred and took Mel up in tight and warm hug, like he hadn't seen her in weeks. Fred tried to join him, but a simple look from his brother made him back off with a slight grin.

"I'm glad you're out of there, breakfast wasn't the same without you." He said as he pulled away to smile at her. Melinda smiled back, all the while trying to push away the doubts she had of her feelings for him. Just looking at his bright smile made her feel extremely guilty for questioning their relationship, at least on her part anyways.

"Well, I'm back now. Can we sit? I'm starving." She confessed, and so they all ushered over to the Hufflepuff table; Mel's House companions all gave her a 'good morning' and congratulated her on her newborn. They gave her so much attention it made her a little bashful. Once they took a seat, Melinda began to put food onto her plate and barely wasted another minute before she dived into the delicious breakfast before her. The twins grinned in amusement, and being of their nature couldn't pass up the opportunity of teasing her on it.

"Someone's famished." George started. "Like a lion, rawr~!" Fred finished off humorously. Mel's two friends snickered, then composed themselves in consideration for their friend, whose face was beginning to redden and she slowed down on her eating.

"Don't tease me it's my first day back." She said with a pout. George chuckled pecked her cheek when she said that.

"Exactly, and since it is so, it would only be proper of us two to give you the pleasure of being teased by us this early in the day." He said, as if it was an honor. She shook her head and returned to her food. Breakfast time went by fairly fast as they talked and caught up with the things Mel missed out on and such. The bell soon rang and they all got up and gathered their things before heading out of the Hall. While they walked amongst the crowd of students, Melinda caught a glimpse of Draco heading off with his two buffoon friends in the opposite direction she was going. She had half the mind to follow after him, but she shook that crazy thought and continued on with her two best friends and the twins. Fred and George bid them goodbye once they reached the point where they had to part for their different classes. George gave her a peck on the cheek before they left; she didn't return it but only gave a smile. One of her friends seemed to notice that and instantly brought it to her attention.

"Is something going on Mel?" Andrea asked her barely above a whisper as they headed to Transfiguration class. Mel looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"No, why do you ask?" She shrugged in return. "Well, I just thought that you looked a little off when George kissed you before he and Fred left." Hearing that, she bit her lip and looked elsewhere.

"No, I think I'm just a little drained is all." Andrea hesitantly nodded and dropped the subject. They came into the classroom and took their usual seats as others filed in as well. McGonagall, who was already in there, gave Melinda a quick smile before returning to her usual serious business face. The bell rang and she began to go over some of the materials that were likely to be on the OWLs, must to everyone's displeasure. Valerie had to suppress a groan when she started to lecture.

"We don't get one single day of rest." She muttered to the other two. Andrea sighed and just paid attention to the lesson. Melinda could honestly say that she didn't mind it, as it was much better than studying it off on her own. Unfortunately, she wasn't completely concentrated on the lesson, because her mind was filled with thoughts of a certain Slytherin boy.

* * *

Melinda and her friends met up with the twins for lunch and once again sat together to eat. The twins were boasting about a prank they had done on a snotty 3rd year Slytherin during the break between classes. The sheer mention of the House name made Melinda feel uncomfortable, although she hid it well from them. She didn't talk much during lunch, and George seemed to notice that because as soon as he finished, he asked her to come with him outside for a little bit. Curious, Mel got up and followed him out of the Hall. He only stopped when they reached the courtyard.

"I noticed that you were a little too quiet in there." He said once he turned to her. Mel blinked and tried to pass it off as nothing.

"I'm just a little worn out, is all." That didn't seem to convince the ginger haired boy, because he gave her a skeptic look.

"I'm not buying that, something's on your mind. What's bothering you?" He asked. Melinda didn't know whether to answer that or not. If she did, she either would have to lie or tell him the truth. Lying might work, but if he caught on to it he would be even more tempted to have her tell him the truth. If she said what was really on her mind from the start…

"Well, thing is George, I…I'm kind of worried about taking the OWLs, my life after this school year ends, Carina…all those things, you know." He was silent for a few after she said that. Melinda was hoping that worked, because the last thing she wanted to do was hurt George by telling him what happened between her and Draco, and how her feelings became unstable since then. Luckily for her, the 6th year Gryffindor boy seemed to find her answer satisfactory and plausible, so he gave her a nod of understanding and pulled her into a gentle hug.

"It's okay. I'm sure you'll be fine, so don't worry too much." He said as he stroked her hair. She gave an inaudible sigh and wrapped her arms around him, thanking God for George being such a sensible guy.

'What I'm doing to him is terrible. It's so unfair…' She thought, trying not to let her emotions overflow and give her away. George was the ideal guy for Mel, and she knew that. He wasn't rich, true enough, but he had a great personality, was always there for her; he even stuck by her side when he found out she was pregnant with Draco's baby, and not many would do that. She couldn't understand why such a wonderful person like George didn't make her heart beat so strong as when Draco was around her. George was the complete opposite of Draco, and everything a smart and sensible girl could wish for in a guy; the right choice for a partner. He was trustworthy when Malfoy wasn't. So why? Why was Draco always the one that she thought of the most? Why was he the one that made her knees feel weak? Why did her heart beat for him and not George? She felt ashamed for not being able to control her feelings as well as she wanted. George pulled away from the hug and stroked her cheek with a small smile.

"You can count on me to be there for you, whatever happens." Staring back at those chocolate brown eyes, she saw his love for her, a love she wished dearly to return. The only thing she could do was pretend.

"I love you."

Those words left George speechless and in shock, but nonetheless happy as he could ever be. He was hoping to be the first to say it to her, but he was caught off guard when she beat him to it. Nonetheless, he broke into a wide grin after that.

"I love you too Mel." George leaned down and placed his lips upon hers, kissing her with all the love he felt for the girl, in the hopes that it proved how genuine his feelings were. Melinda was a little taken back, but soon eased up and returned the kiss.

* * *

The last class of the afternoon ended, leaving the students free to enjoy the remainder of the day. Up until dinner time Melinda hung out with Andrea and Valerie, not yet telling them what happened between her and George, although they tried many time to lead the conversation up to it. The hours went by, and the three soon went off to have supper with the twins. Throughout the meal, Mel saw George sending her some looks, the kind of looks that she wished to return with as much sincerity and legitimacy as his. Right after they ate, she headed off to the Hospital Wing to check up on Carina, and while she did so, she had an unexpected brush in with the father of her baby. They bumped into each other in the hall, the impact making them stumble back a few steps.

"Watch where you're-" Draco cut himself off once he saw Melinda. His initial anger and annoyance began to wear off and he just stared at her with a lost look on his face. She looked back at him, not saying anything herself. After a minute had gone by he seemed to come back to his senses, and silently took off in the direction he was going before. Numbly, Mel continued to walk, reaching the Hospital Wing in no time. She could hear crying even before she went into the nursery room Madam Pomfrey had prepared for her baby. Going inside, she walked up to Martha who was trying to calm down Carina by rocking her in her arms.

"What's wrong with her?" Mel asked, hoping it was nothing serious. Martha looked up, her face showing some relief.

"Oh good you're here. I think it's time for her to eat." She said, slightly playful, before handing Carina over to her. Mel took her child in her arms and walked over to a rocking chair in the corner of the room. Sitting down, she pulled up her blouse and began to feed her little girl, who instantly quieted down afterwards. Smiling a little, she gently rocked the chair back and forth. Martha sighed a little and sat down on another chair, seeming exhausted.

"What a lovely child, when she's not crying at the top of her lungs." At that Melinda chuckled. Being almost fifty years old, she knew that Martha wasn't as energetic as she was when she became her caretaker, and it wasn't a surprise to see her tire more easily now with taking care of a baby. It made Mel feel quite guilty again to have to rely on her so much during this period of time. The option of abandoning her studies to take care of Carina was slowly moving up to the top of her list, and if she could not find any easier way to deal with it, it would more likely to come true. Carina was fast asleep in a matter of minutes, so Mel carefully fixed up her shirt and held her child close to her bosom. Looking upon her peaceful little face made Melinda feel a surge of calmness come over her. Martha was already nodding off on the chair, a comical scene for the young mother to witness.

"Martha, you'll have more back problems if you sleep on the chair like that." She called out, causing Martha to abruptly awaken from her light sleep with a short snort.

"Huh? Oh. Do you mind if I take a small nap then?" Melinda shook her head, and so Martha went over to the other side of the nursery and laid down on a bed that was provided for her. It didn't take long before Mel began to hear her light snores. She slowly got up from the rocking chair and moved over to the crib. Being very careful, she detached her child from her chest and placed her sleeping form inside. After covering up Carina, and lightly stroking her naked head, Melinda walked back to the rocking chair and pulled her bag over to her so she could take out her textbooks and begin on her assignments.

* * *

When the clock struck 10:30, Mel placed her things back in her bag and got up. She placed a small kiss on Carina's cheek, being very cautious as to not stir her awake. She glanced over to Martha's still sleeping form and felt better not to wake her from her slumber, as she seemed in much need of a good rest. As quietly as she could, she exited out of the nursery and walked out of the Hospital Wing in the direction of the Hufflepuff Common Room. Melinda found her two best friends waiting for her in the girls' dorm. While all the others were asleep, the two of them had stayed up, waiting for her to arrive so they could interrogate her once again on the subject Melinda had been avoiding to talk about.

"Oh come on Mel, tell us what went on between you two. If you were not so willing to talk about it before, then something definitely happened between you two." Valerie said in a whisper. Melinda sighed, really not wanting to touch up on it with them, but she knew that if she didn't tell them now they would continue to bother her about it until they managed to drive her to the point of insanity.

"Nothing special, I just…" She trailed off, causing Val to groan. Andrea shushed her as she was being too loud. Valerie flushed a little, but that didn't stop her from pressuring Melinda to continue. Sighing once more, Mel sat down on her bad and stared down at her covers.

"I told George I loved him." Both girls gasped, Valerie's naturally louder than Andrea's. The former girl's eyes brightened up with excitement and the two of them shuffled out of their beds to sit on the edge of Mel's.

"Details, details!" Val asked in a high whisper, earning a small nudge from Andrea. Mel looked up at them, her face coloring once again at their intensive interest on it.

"What details? I just said I loved him and he said he loved me back…then we kissed and that's it." She said, as if it was all too normal. Valerie shook her head, clearly not satisfied with just that.

"Something must've led you to confess to him like that. So what was it?" At that question, Mel felt nervousness build up inside of her. Could she even tell her friends about what happened between her and Draco? She knew they were her best friends, but now that she was going out with George it didn't feel right to reveal such a thing to them; they would probably think she was crazy.

"I don't know, we were just talking about some things that I was worried about, like the OWLs, how it's going to be after school ends, how to deal with Carina at home. I can't just rely on Martha all the time; she has an elderly mother to take care of, and at her age looking after a baby makes her feel exhausted easily." The two girls exchanged looks and turned back to her.

"And he said I could count on him for whatever, so I guess that's what made me tell him I love him." She finished off, looking at the two for a reaction to what she said. Andrea was silent while Valerie breathed her familiar dreamy sigh.

"That sounds so romantic for some reason~" She giggled a little, then shut up when she heard one of the girls from the other bed shift. Melinda saw Andrea staring at her with a deep look in her eyes, but she didn't know what it meant.

"Okay, well I think we should head off to bed now, it's almost 11." Andrea muttered. Mel and Val agreed, and so Valerie and Andrea and the two laying back down in their own beds. Melinda put out the candle by her bed before lying down. That strange look Andrea gave her made her feel a little uneasy.

'It's probably nothing.' She thought, brushing it off and closing her eyes to go to sleep.


	22. An Invitation and a Secret Scheme

**Hey you guys, hope you're enjoying this story! I haven't had a lot of Reviews :( but I hope to get more as this story progresses, so please review when you can, it makes me happy + more motivated to update!Thank you for your continuous support :)**

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**This chapter is slightly different than the others, and you'll see why in a sec, but I hope you all like it :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

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_**Flashback**_

"_Why are you here?" Accused a 3rd __year Draco the moment Melinda came into view. She said nothing at first, being startled by him when he said that and just stared back at him with a puzzling look on her face. After a few brief seconds, she recomposed herself enough to finally answer him.  
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"_I was just on my way to meet my friends." She said cautiously, not understanding by he looked so upset with her when she had only just happened to stumble upon him. He seemed to relax a little, but his face was still contorted in an expression of annoyance._

"_Yeah well, get going then." He said, shooing her with a wave of his left hand; his right arm was bandaged. Melinda, instead of heeding to his command, crossed her arms and stood her ground now._

"_No." The young Malfoy seemed taken aback by her sudden attitude, but quickly recovered and sent a glare her way as he came down the small hill slope to stand in front of her. She watched as he pulled out his wand and pointed right at her._

"_Don't try to test my patience, Valkyrie." Even after having said that in a threatening tone, she still put up a strong act and didn't move._

"_If you jinx me, you'll be in trouble with the professors." She shot back. That seemed to do the trick as he lowered his wand a little, feeling rather uncertain. His confidence was not so high anymore._

"_Tch, whatever. Just be on your way and leave me alone." He said while putting his wand back inside his robes. Her eyes were locked on his bandaged arm then._

"_Oh, are you still upset about that small scratch you got?" Draco flushed when she mentioned that and turned away from her._

"_It's none of your business, go away." He stressed, feeling his irritation grow more with the mention of that previous day's event; it was a bit humiliating for him to have been assaulted by a magical creature like that in front of everyone._

"_You ought to be ashamed, you know. Magical beasts aren't just creatures you can command and expect them to listen, especially a creature as proud as a hippogriff." She said, having heard about what happened from Fred and George, who in turn heard it from the Golden Trio. Draco was not at all pleased with her comment, and whipped back around to glare intensely at her._

"_What do you know, huh? Why are you trying to piss me off? I thought you had to meet your stupid friends." He lashed back, fed up with her presence. She grunted a little and took a courageous step towards him._

"_My friends are not stupid, at least they're real." She said, almost right in his face. He only stared back with contempt. Melinda pulled back and shook her head._

"_I feel sorry for you. You boast so much about your family and how you get everything you want, but really you have nothing. You're just a bully who teases and humiliates other students to make yourself feel better." He was a little surprised by her harsh words to him, but they were true. Draco Malfoy was way too pompous for his own good and she felt he needed to hear that. She didn't wait around to hear his reply to that; the expression of shock on his face was enough for her before she took off to meet up with Valerie and Andrea. The young Malfoy stared off as she walked away from him._

"Draco, are you listening?" The young Malfoy snapped out of his thoughts when Pansy called out to him. He glanced over to her with an annoyed look.

"Don't bother me when I'm thinking." She blinked in surprise at his snappy response and drew back to continue her story telling while he took a sip of his pumpkin juice. It was extremely frustrating how his thoughts seemed to revolve around the 5th year Hufflepuff girl now. All he has done lately was think about her, the things that happened between them in the past, especially that night when they were drunk and…

Draco shook his head and grunted lowly. 'How stupid was I? To let myself come to that point, and with a girl like her.' He thought numbly. Even with the feeling of regret, he couldn't help but be happy about having Carina, his daughter. He was young, too young to have a kid, and he knew that. However, the moment he picked her up in his arms, no, even earlier than that when she was born, his heart was touched with a strange warmth. Draco wasn't sure why these strange things were happening to him all of a sudden, but since there was no explanation to be had, he kept it all to himself; god forbid if his so called friends knew about it, or worse, his parents.

'I have no idea how to tell mum and dad about this.' His mind was constantly drawing back to that thought, and the dread of the day that he would inevitably have to tell his parents the truth. What he did could not be changed anymore, and he was deathly scared of many things that might happen in the future. What if something happened to Carina and Melinda came after him for help without warning? What if she came face to face with his parents and told them the truth? He'd be in loads of trouble. Picking up his bag, he got up from the table.

"I'm heading out. Don't follow." He instantly told his group of 'friends.' Confused, they just let him walk out of the Great Hall without asking questions. Draco walked until he reached the courtyard and a light breeze hit him. A sigh of content escaped his lips, before he continued down a dirt path. The sky was a little cloudy, but it didn't seem as if it was going to rain anytime soon. The last days of spring were going by and the heat of summer was already taking its toll on the students of Hogwarts. Many wanted to enjoy it and go down to the lake, but unfortunately they still had to go through the end of the year exams, and those in the upper classes were preparing for the OWLs and NEWTs coming up in June.

He came to a stop when he got to a familiar place where there was a small hill slopping down to the dirt path he was on. Staring at the spot where he and Melinda were the year before caused him to scoff. She had made him so mad at her that day, and her words…they were true enough, but he wasn't going to confess that to her, no way.

"Bloody girl." He muttered under his breath. He suddenly heard two voices approaching, and being caught off guard he was quick to go up the slope of the hill and hide behind the thick trunk of a large beech tree. His heart was beating fast with the adrenaline of doing that all in seconds, and only at the last possible moment the two people talking arrived. His eyes widened when he recognized one of them, very distinctly.

"I'm so tired of studying." Mel said with a sigh as she walked with George around the outside school grounds. He chuckled when she said that.

"Fred and I gave up on the first week they started to review the materials. We were very surprised when we found out we had managed to get three OWLs each." She let out a laugh when he told her that.

"I remember you two writing to me about having danced and sung around the house and how your mum had scolded you both for getting such a low amount of OWLs." George nodded, getting a reminiscing look on his face.

"Yes, and then she threatened to jinx our mouths shut and tie us up if we didn't stop celebrating like fools. Those were the days~" He joked. Melinda smiled a little, and wondered how it would be if she had her parents around. George then looked at her stopped for a moment, making her do the same as he had been holding her hand.

"Mel, I've been thinking, don't you want to spend some of this summer at our home?" He asked. She looked at him in surprise.

"Me? But…I have Carina to take care of, I can't do that." She said with a small frown. He shook his head at her.

"That's no problem, bring her too! It'll be great and mum can watch over her a few times too while you're there. Come on, it'll be fun." Melinda still looked hesitant on that.

"I don't know George, I don't want to give trouble to your mum, and I doubt she'd want to spend her free time taking care of a child that's not even hers." The ginger haired boy sighed and walked to stand in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders and staring straight at her.

"It won't be any trouble Mel. Fred and I already talked to her about it, and she said she was more than happy to have you both at our house." He said to her. She looked back at him, and seemed be more relieved with that notion.

"Really?" He smiled and nodded. "Yes really. This way, you can also give your caretaker some time off to take care of her life and her elderly mother, don't you think?" That seemed to have encouraged her more and she agreed with that.

"That's true, it'll be very good for her to get some time off and not have to worry about me or Carina." She mumbled, and then a smile broke through again.

"Okay, I'll take you up on the offer." That made George very happy and he hugged her tightly before picking her up off the ground and spinning her around a few times. She laughed at his sudden excitement to her having agreed to spend some of the summer with him. He laughed with her and finally put her down. Then, he stared down at her while she stared back up at him and he couldn't help but plant a brief kiss upon his girlfriend's lips. When he pulled away, he took her hand in his again and both continued to walk down the dirt path.

Blue eyes watched with scorn at their retreating figures. 'That stupid Weasley, who does he think he is to give such an offer like that and then kiss her? Repulsive!' He thought condescendingly. He didn't know why, but just seeing those two together made his blood boil and something began to gnaw at his chest. He came out from behind the tree and resumed his walk.

'Pull yourself together, Draco…you have nothing to do with her life.' He thought to himself, but that was not entirely true. He did have something to do with it; Carina was the reason. Being the father, he was automatically somewhat part of Melinda's life as well as she was the mother. The only link he really had to her was their daughter, but that didn't seem to be enough for him. He had fought long and hard with himself, trying to distinguish what exactly he had been recently feeling for the Hufflepuff girl. It wasn't something he was proud of, being from Slytherin and having a reputation to keep, especially because of his parents. But this feeling has kept him up several nights already, thinking about the girl he mistakenly impregnated at a young age, all because of a couple of stupid bottles of firewhiskey consumed. He had come to terms with himself that he was as much to blame for the events of that night as she was, after all he had assured her that he was with protection, when really he was just saying that to get in her pants as quickly as possible. Being reminded of his attitude then made him blush with embarrassment.

'How could I have acted so…outlandish?' He sighed and decided not to dwell on that thought anymore, as it slightly disturbed him. What's done is done, and there was no way for him to alter the consequences of his actions. That did not stop him from holding great contempt towards George Weasley, though. Even if he wasn't on good terms with Melinda, he became jealous the minute he learned of their relationship. What's more, he knew that the guy had come in close contact with his daughter as well, and that didn't sit well with him at all. He wanted to prevent him from being near her, but the last time he told Melinda that she went off on him; he didn't want to admit it, but at that moment she had scared him a little as up until then she had been very calm and tame, and to lash out at him like that all of a sudden really made him dumbstruck. He had not been so keen on attempting to convince her again after that.

"I can't let myself go crazy over her." He mumbled to himself, looking ahead as he was approaching another part of the castle. He looked up at the high Astronomy tower in the distance, and his mind instantly connected it to Carina. Melinda had told him she named Carina after a star to honor his family tradition. He had to admit that he had been very touched by that, because he seriously didn't think she was so considerate as to do that for him, but she had. Now that he had a daughter, he wanted to do all he could to help out on her upbringing, but he had to do that in secrecy from his Slytherin mates; Pansy had already become suspicious of him when he went to see his daughter at the Hospital Wing a few days after her being born. When he came back, his face flushed up from what almost happened between him and Melinda, Pansy wasted no time in questioning him about it and he almost wasn't able to convince her that he had just come back from a quick run outside. Yes, he had to be very cautious, especially around Parkinson.

'And there's also one more thing I have to do…' He thought, his trademark smirk of mischief coming upon his face. He knew that trying to convince Melinda to keep George away from Carina wasn't going to happen. For that reason, he decided to take another turn to make sure that he didn't come near his daughter anymore, and that was to split them up. With many ideas already weaving in his head, Draco returned inside the Castle. The ringing of the bell reached the ears of many, signaling that lunch was over and for the students to make way to their last classes of the day.

'You just wait, Weasley. I'll put an end to your little romance with her.' With that, he left for his Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

* * *

After having accepted George's offer to spend time with him at the Burrow, Melinda went to tell Martha when the afternoon classes were over. She seemed very hesitant at first, but after Mel assured that Mrs. Weasley had given permission for her and Carina to go there she seemed more relieved and allowed it.

"I suppose it'll do you good to have some fun with your friends instead of being in the house the whole summer. I just hope it's not too much trouble for Mrs. Weasley, she seems like such a nice lady." She said. Melinda smiled and nodded as she held her daughter in her arms.

"She really is. Remember when I visited the twins for 3 days after my 3rd year? When we finished dinner she had baked a ton of cookies for us to eat after! I swear we almost had stomach aches from having so many of them." She said with a chuckle. Martha laughed heartily at the thought.

"Ah yes, I remember you writing me about that. You had so much fun, did you not?" Mel nodded and looked down at her child.

"Yeah, those were good times." She said, thinking back to those days when her only worries were to get good grades in school. Things had changed tremendously since the start of her 5th year. Not only did she have to worry about her studies, but now she had to take care of another human being, a child when she herself hadn't even come of age yet. She was much too young to be a mother, and yet here she was.

"I do hope you have as much fun this time as well, sweetheart, but I must stress for you not to have **too** much fun." Martha said, giving her a meaningful look. Melinda looked at her, not understanding what she meant with that.

"I trust that you will behave when you are around Mr. Weasley. Do not repeat what has already happened to you." She spoke in a serious tone. Her face flushed at the mere thought of it and she instantly shook her head.

"Of course not! I wasn't even thinking about that…" She mumbled, turning away as her face heated up even more. Carina wriggled around her arm a little, whining. Mel sat down on the rocking chair to start feeding her while Martha excused herself to use the lavatory.

'I never even imagined that possibility up until she mentioned it.' She thought, still embarrassed at the mere idea. She trusted George enough that he wouldn't be stupid as to come upon her like that, especially when she was to be a guest at his house and already having had a baby on top of that. There would be no alcoholic beverage there, she knew, and it was highly unlikely that the two of them would get to that point when they were perfectly sober. Yes, her mistake was drinking too much when it happened with Draco, but that wasn't the only thing. If it wasn't for her letting her emotions get the best of her, and the untimely manner in which Draco came into that pub, it would have never happened. That thought faintly depressed her a little, because had it not happened, Carina would not be there in her arms right now, and she couldn't imagine life without her little girl anymore.

"Mummy loves you very much." She cooed at her daughter, smiling gently as her tiny honey colored eyes met hers for a brief moment. She took it as a sign that she understood what she said.


	23. Husband Candidates and a Past Dream

**Hey guys! Sorry I didn't update sooner :(****. Since I started my first year of college, I had to deal with a lot of preparations for classes and living arrangements at the dorm, haha. But here it is, chapter 23 of Secrets to Keep! Hope you like it and as always, please review! :) **

**Thanks~  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

"The more I study, the more my brain seems to fizzle." Commented Valerie with a groan as she slumped back on the couch of the Common Room. Andrea shook her head and continued to immerse herself in her Astronomy book. Melinda herself couldn't pry her eyes off of her book; she knew that it was a matter of days before the OWLs would begin.

'I have to be ready for this. If I get enough OWLs maybe I'll get a decent enough job if I can't return to school next year.' Was her reasoning, and, as before, concentrated on the text before her. Valerie grumbled a few things under her breath before noticing none of the other two were really paying attention to her whining, so she gave up and went back to studying. Their _peaceful_ study session was interrupted when a group of Hufflepuff boys came down from the dormitory laughing and talking as loud as they possibly could.

'It's almost as if they do it on purpose.' Mel thought as she glanced up from her book for a second. Cedric and his buddies descended the stairs into the Common Room and continued on to the exit, but the 6th year Hufflepuff boy stopped and looked over to Melinda. She blinked and quickly looked back down to her book, not knowing why she felt embarrassed all of a sudden.

"Oh, hey Cedric!" Val greeted happily, and he took that opportunity to approach the trio with a smile.

"'Ello girls, studying for the OWLs I see." Valerie sighed when he reminded her of it and Andrea gave a curt nod, but not yet looking up from her book.

"Yeah, it is certainly a pain to study so much for it. Are they really all that hard?" Cedric gave a small shrug to that.

"To be truthful, they can be challenging, but I think they change it a little every year so I'm not quite sure how they will test you guys when you take them." That didn't seem to alleviate Valerie's worries, not one bit. Andrea only muttered a small 'hmm' and went silent again. Cedric then looked at Melinda once again.

"How are you holding up, Mel?" He asked, and she forced herself to look back up at him with a small smile.

"Alright I suppose. It is quite a bit of studying as Valerie said, and having to look after Carina can be a bit of a handful, but I'm managing so far." He nodded at that. One of Cedric's mates stuck his head in and called out to him.

"C'mon Ced! You'll miss out on Quidditch training!" Cedric looked over with a grin and a nod.

"I'll be right there!" He said in turn before looking back to Melinda. She felt a little odd whenever he looked at her; it was as if he did it differently from when he looked at others.

"Well, I think you'll all do just fine, but I wish you luck on the Exams anyway. Later." He said as he went off to join his group.

"Bye Cedric, have fun playing Quidditch!" Val shouted out, then gave a sigh once he was gone.

"God, why Cho Chang, why?" She whined and looked at her other two friends; they were studying again. With a groan she yanked her book back to her and tried to concentrate.

* * *

After 3 hours of study session (with very few breaks in between) the Hufflepuff trio headed downstairs to eat lunch, and ended up joining with the twins along the way as they were also headed to the Great Hall. George instantly positioned himself next to Mel and wrapped an arm around her, to which she smiled.

"Hey Mel." He said with a slight grin.

"Hey George." She replied. Fred 'aww'ed the couple, earning a bit of a shove from George. Chuckling, he went on the other side of Mel, playfully shooing Valerie out of the way.

"Hey!" Val pouted as he did that. Fred mocked her pout then grinned as if to demonstrate it was just all play, then turned his attention back to the couple.

"So, when's the wedding?" He joked, causing the other two to flush. Mel's girl friends also raised an eyebrow at that comment.

"Isn't it a little too soon for that?" Andrea questioned, and Fred shrugged his shoulders.

"I was jesting, but with the way these two are going I don't doubt that in the future it might happen~" He teased. Melinda's cheeks burned with that comment, and though George felt a little embarrassed himself, he quite liked the idea.

"I wouldn't mind if that came to be true." He said, and Mel's eyes widened a little bit.

'What? He can't be serious…is he?' She thought. Part of her felt very flattered and lucky to have George as a boyfriend, but another part was still hung up on Draco and Carina. She just couldn't picture herself leading on a satisfying life with George when she already had another guy's baby to take care of.

"Aha, see? You already have a second candidate for husband Mel." Fred commented, and that left many confused for a minute, especially George.

"Wait a moment, how come you say 'second candidate'?" He questioned is brother. Fred got that sly grin on his face, drawing out a bit of suspense as he readied his response.

"Well, dearest twin brother, think back to when we were born. While you where the **second** to come out, I was the **first**! Get it? Or you think I'll let you take her without a fair competition, eh?" The girls were very shocked and confused, but not George who was grinning at that. He knew how his brother's brain worked, and naturally he knew it wasn't meant to be taken seriously, although he did like the idea of competition.

"Dear god, you two. You know Mel is not some kind of object that you can fight over." Andrea lightly scolded, thinking their playful contest to be too devious to put in practice. Mel had no words to say really, and so just kept quiet on the subject and let the twins have their fun with it.

'They're always trying to make things seem more exciting, no matter the subject.' She thought. Finally, they reached the Great Hall and took their seats at the Hufflepuff table. A couple of students were already there and eating their meal, so they followed suit. While filling up their plates, Fred and George talked amongst each other about what they could do to measure their love for Melinda, and the ideas were far from a dull '_roses are red, violets are blue' _poem. Melinda blocked them out, not wanting to hear more of their supposed testaments of love that they would demonstrate to her. Andrea was the one that kept scolding them, being very opposed to playing with Mel's emotions. In reality she really didn't care, because her mind was elsewhere now. No matter how many times she tried to stop herself, she couldn't; mentally telling herself over and over not to think about him only made her think even more about him! It was as if she was trapped in a cage in her head, and the thing that was inside with her was him.

'Blasted Malfoy! Why can't you just get out of my head already?' She gave an inward sigh and shoved a piece of egg roll into her mouth. After several warnings from Andrea, the twins dropped the subject and went to the most recently hated one by Val.

"So, how are the OWLs study coming along?" Fred asked, receiving a small glare from Valerie in return. He blinked and put his hands up in defense.

"It was just a question, I swear!" He meekly said. Mel, Andrea and George couldn't help but snicker at that.

"I'm just so sick of hearing 'OWLs, OWLs, OWLs' all the time, and studying for them! Ugh! I'll be more than glad to be done with them; I'll even throw a little celebration party!" She pledged heatedly. The twins grinned as that sounded like a bloody good idea.

"You should! And you ought to invite us as well." Fred said with a nod. She huffed and gave a curt nod before going back to eating. George then turned his attention to Melinda as Fred was distracted by Lee Jordan who came up to talk to him.

"You're not stressed out like she is, are you?" He asked in a lower tone. She shrugged and drank some juice to down the food she just ate.

"I don't think I'm as bad as her, but I am trying to study as much as I possibly can. Getting a good amount of OWLs can help set up my future if I don't return next year." George frowned a little and nodded in understanding.

"I see…but Mel, you don't have to worry too much about it. Whatever happens you know I'll do my best to help you out. Look, Fred and I will open a Joke Shop in the future, and once the money gets going I'll-"Melinda cut him off by planting a soft kiss on his lips; he froze when she did that. She only kissed him for a few seconds before pulling away.

"You're too good to be true." She said in a soft tone. He blushed when she said it like that, then gently smiled and kissed her again, this time for a longer period of time.

* * *

It was nighttime, and the three girls were in the Astronomy Tower for their class with Professor Sinistra. They were trying to chart the main stars, constellations and planets that they could see through the telescope as part of the OWLs preparation. Valerie was doing a half-assed job as she wanted nothing more than to go to bed; it was past midnight after all. Andrea was very focused on her chart, and Mel was right behind her, except that she kept stopping at a star that was not part of the major ones. That star had the name of her daughter, and it was impossible for her to just continue on without acknowledging that it was there. Just before coming to class she made sure to stop by for the 7th time at the Hospital Wing to see her. Melinda tried to refocus and continue charting the stars and planet, but one of the constellations' name slipped from her mind, and she had to look through her textbook. When she found it, she looked at the name and her heart stopped.

'Why did it have to be this one that I had to forget?' She thought with a sigh, her eyes staring at the name: Draco.

'Life doesn't seem to want me to try and forget him; look at this! It can't just be a coincidence that I just happened to forget his constellation…' Feeling rather solemn, she trudged through the rest of the chart in worse spirits than before. When class was over, Valerie wasn't the only one that was happy about it. Melinda felt she needed a good night's sleep to help her keep her mind off of him. The girls packed up their stuff and went off to their dorm.

"I'm so exhausted." Val mumbled, yawning and rubbing her left eye. Andrea could only murmur in response as she herself was pretty tired. They arrived at their dorm and instantly readied themselves for bed, being glad once their heads hit their pillows and they were able to close their eyes.

_**Dream**_

"_Mummy! Mummy!" A little girl cried out as she ran into a house and clung herself to her mother's leg. The woman looked down at her with a surprised look._

"_What's the matter sweetie?" She asked while bending down to brush some loose strands of caramel hair from her daughter's face. _

"_There are two strangers in the yard." She said while staring up at her. Confusion struck the woman, and she glanced out the window. The girl saw her mother's eyes turn the size of dinner plates, before she quickly grabbed her and took her out of the kitchen and to the living room where a man was seated reading a book._

"_Andrew!" The woman called out in a bit of alarm. The man looked up, being slightly startled by her tone of voice._

"_What's the matter Helen?" He asked his wife, concerned at the look on her face. The woman, Helen, approached him, the hand holding her daughter's arm shaking a little. _

"_They're here." She said, barely above a whisper. Alarmed, Andrew put she book aside and grasped his wife's shoulders._

"_Go to Martha's house and wait for me there." He said. The two adults then entered a small argument that their daughter couldn't really understand. Finally, the girls' father knelt down to be eye-level with his daughter, and he gave a sad smile._

"_I want you to be a good girl and do as your mother says, alright?" She nodded in response, but was still confused._

"_Daddy, what's going on?" She asked. He said nothing and just hugged her before standing up and kissing his wife. Helen then rushed to the fireplace with Melinda and took some floo powder from a nearby pot. She held tightly to her daughter's arm and, with a last look at her husband, a tear slipped down her cheek. The little girl frowned, sensing that something was wrong, but she didn't know what yet. Before she could ask anything, her mother called out an address and threw the powder down into the fireplace; they were gone._

_Coughing, the little girl stepped into living room, but not her own. Helen let go of her arm and went searching for someone. The girl remained in the room until her mother returned with an older woman._

"_Martha!" She called out, happy to see her. Martha gave a small smile to her and leaned down for a hug. The girl instantly embraced her and then pulled away._

"_I need you to look after her for me." Helen suddenly said, and Martha looked at her with a frown on her face._

"_Don't do this Helen, it's risky. What if-"Helen cut her off with a hug, to which Martha hesitantly returned. _

"_I trust you…" Helen whispered, before pulling away. The younger woman then turned to her daughter with a sad smile, the same one she saw her father give her before they left._

"_You be good to Martha, alright? Don't cause any trouble for her." She said and pulled her into a tight hug. The daughter didn't know why there were so many hugs being given all of a sudden, but she returned it anyways._

"_But, mummy, are you going away?" She asked as they broke apart. Helen bit her lip and tears were already threatening to fall from her eyes. The little girl frowned when she saw that._

"_I'm going to help daddy. I'll try to come back, but if I don't I want you to stay with Martha and be a good girl. I love you very much sweetie." She said with sadness in her voice._

"_I love you too mummy." Was the daughter's response, before her mother went to the fireplace and took some powder. With a last look at the two standing in the living room, Helen called out the address of her home and was engulfed in green flames before she vanished from sight._

"_She's coming back with daddy, right?" The little girl asked Martha, who could only muster a small smile as her eyes were leaking tears._

Melinda woke up with tears staining her cheeks. She was confused for a second, then the dream came back to her. She sat up in bed and dried her eyes before looking at the clock on her nightstand; it read 6:50 am. With a sigh, Mel forced herself up, knowing she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep after that dream. She quietly got herself ready and headed out of the girls' dormitory. She sat down on the couch that was nearest to the fireplace, and pulled out her wand to start a small fire inside. Once it was lit up, she took advantage of the warmth provided, all the while thinking about the dream she had.

'I thought those dreams had stopped…' Her train of thought stopped there and she rested her head against the arm of the couch. Her mind seemed to shut down for a moment, and Melinda could blissfully enjoy not having any thoughts whatsoever for that time. Her peace was interrupted when a few students began to come down from the dormitories, so she sat up and put out the fire before heading back to her dorm to wake up her friends.


	24. The Prank

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry for not updating sooner, I was just really caught up with College, but I'll try my best to update more often :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

"Keep Quiet. OWLs Examination Taking Place." Fred read. He looked back to his twin brother George as they now stared at the large double doors that were shut close. It has been hours since Melinda, Andrea and Valerie had gone inside that classroom to continue the long and exhausting process of OWL taking.

"Gee, I wonder how those three are holding up in there it's been nearly 5 hours already. What do you think?" George asked him, and received a shrug in return.

"Dunno, but I'm almost certain that Valerie is probably freaking out inside." Fred said with a snicker. George grinned himself, when suddenly the doors began to open up. The twins stepped aside as students began to make way out of the room, most wearing a look of exhaustion on their faces. Fred and George made sure to keep an eye out for Melinda and her two friends. After about half the OWLs group left the Hufflepuff trio finally came out. George grinned and walked over to them, instantly wrapping an arm around Mel's shoulders.

"So, how was it?" He asked. Mel gave him a small smile, but it was obvious she was well mentally drained.

"It was alright. It could've been harder I suppose." She answered after a moment. Val groaned and hung her head low.

"I'm pretty sure I failed the Arithmancy portion." Andrea gave her a light pat on the back.

"Cheer up, after three days of testing it can happen." Valerie gave her a dirty look.

"Yeah, that makes me so much cheery, thanks." She said sarcastically. Andrea pulled back so as to not make her moody.

"I have an idea," Fred suddenly announced. "Why don't we celebrate the end of you guys' testing with some butterbeer, eh?" That offer was rather appealing, but Andrea wasn't sure how they'd be able to get to Hogsmeade when they had no trip scheduled.

"Oh please, like you don't know these two." Val said after she saw the doubtful look on her face.

"Hm, yeah true." She nodded and unlike most times she didn't try to argue against it.

"Are you up for it?" George asked Mel. She smiled and nodded herself.

"Of course. After my brain has been worked over so much I think we all deserve treat like that from you two." The twins looked at her with a look of confusion.

"Wait, you expect us to pay for it too?" They all laughed at that.

Coming late afternoon, the Weasley twins smuggled a couple of butterbeers from the Three Broomsticks and brought them over to the group in their 'secret meeting place,' which happened to just be at an unused classroom.

"Aah, this does it." Val said after taking a long sip of the cool drink. The rest followed her lead and basked in the enjoyment of it as well.

"Hm, the final Triwizard tournament is going to happen soon." George suddenly brought it up. That perked everyone else's interests and they began a discussion on which participants had better chances.

"Definitely Cedric and Harry." Andrea voiced with confidence. Valerie was quick to agree with her.

"Yes, quite definite, and I hope Cedric comes out victor." The twins stuck their tongues out at her.

"Yeah, like that's going to happen. I've no doubt in my mind that Harry will give us Gryffindors more pride this year." Fred lightly taunted, being backed by his brother.

"Pfft, he's not as skilled as our Cedric. He might just make enough points on this last one to earn us Hufflepuffs the Cup!" She retorted. Melinda shook her head as they continued to squabble back and forth about it. Meanwhile she began to let her mind drift elsewhere.

'I wonder how Martha's doing with Carina right now...has he gone to see her more times after that night?' The question suddenly popped up in her head. She shook her head right after such a thought emerged.

'Here I go again, thinking about him. Why is it that I cannot go a day without thinking about that self-conceited boy?' A sigh escaped her, but it did not go unnoticed by all.

"Something wrong?" Her boyfriend asked when he heard her. She looked up, confused at first, then looked at him and gave a shake of her head.

"No nothing, I'm just tired I guess." She ran a hand through her hair; it wasn't really a lie. He leaned down a bit and kissed her forehead before pulling away with a small smile.

"Then maybe you should head up to your dorm and get some rest. You don't have any classes this afternoon, right?" She nodded and stood up from the desk.

"I guess I'll go and take a nap for an hour or two. I'll see you at dinner okay?"

"You bet." The two kissed before Melinda bid the rest goodbye and went off.

'I just need some rest, that's all. That'll definitely get my mind off of him.' She thought to herself, but stopped as she was passing by the Hospital Wing's door. She decided to pay a quick visit to her caretaker and see how her little daughter was doing.

"Martha?" She called out as she pulled the door of the nursery room open. Martha looked over to Mel and smiled.

"Oh there you are sweetheart. How did your OWLs go?"

"Fine for the most part." Mel walked over to the crib where Carina was soundly asleep.

"Oh, what a sight. I wish to be like that in a few minutes." She muttered with a small smile. There was a small amount of hair that was starting to grow from her tiny head, and Mel noticed that it was a rather light blond.

'Shucks, she might actually look more like him than me when she grows older.' That thought almost made her feel a little jealous, but then again why should she? She was the one that spent more time with Carina than Draco anyways. Hell, maybe even George stayed more with her than her own father. But of course he didn't have to deal with the silly idea of hiding his parental relation to the child. Melinda tried not to think about it and just admired her little baby, reaching over and very lightly caressing her cheek.

'Wow, a baby's skin really is soft.' She thought, slightly surprised with just now taking notice of it. Pulling away, she looked back to Martha.

"Are you going to check up on your mother today?" She shook her head.

"I already did that a little while ago, and not to worry, Madam Pomfrey was more than glad to watch over Carina during that time." Mel nodded and moved away from the crib.

"Well, I'm heading back to the dorm; I'm in much need of a nap. I'll come back after dinner." Martha nodded and waved her goodbye as she left. As Melinda walked to the Hufflepuff Common Room, her mind was brought back to that nightmare she had a few days ago. She wasn't sure whether to tell Martha or not, but she figured it was best to just keep it to herself since her caretaker already had enough on her plate as it was.

'Just one tiny relapse; I can't control my dreams anyway, it's nothing to worry about.' She assured herself. As she came close to the kitchen, a sudden "PAH!" sound was heard, and she felt something slimy fall on her head and drip down the rest of her body.

"W-What?" She stared down as a pool of blue goo was forming around her.

'Ugh, gross! Who would do this?' As she thought that, a broken sack suddenly fell into the blue goo. Melinda picked it up and stared at the bright label that said 'Weasley Product.' She shook her head and threw it away.

'Of course. Selling a lot of their products to students is bound for an innocent person to walk into a prank like this by mistake.' She thought and continued to the Hufflepuff House secret entrance. She tried to use a cleaning spell, but it seemed that the product was resistant to it, so Mel made haste to get to the girls' dorm and take a shower to get the goo off.

* * *

At dinner, Melinda sat down with her friends looking not so happy. The other two looked at each other and blinked.

"Something wrong Mel?" Andrea asked and received a small grumble from her friend.

"I got caught in one of the twins' pranks that was probably set up by some other student for someone else. It took hours to finally get the blue goo out of my hair and clothes." She explained, sounding a little cranky. Valerie made a face of disgust.

"Ugh, sounds awful. You know, there are some products of theirs that I wish they had never invented in the first place." Andrea had to agree with her on that.

"I think so too. I mean, sure some of them are harmless, but when they start to get tricky it can be pretty annoying as well." As they were saying that, the twins came up and sat down with them; George took his seat next to Mel as usual.

"How are you feeling now after your little nap, sleeping beauty?" He asked teasingly. Mel didn't find it humorous as she piled her plate with food.

"I don't know, I didn't get to rest thanks to some blue goo that fell on me earlier." She said with some edge of irritation in her voice. He blinked, not expecting that reaction from her.

"Blue goo you say?" Fred mumbled curiously.

"Yes, and it came from one of your Weasley products too." She added before starting to eat.

"Ah I see. We did sell a few of those during the second tournament." He commented. George nodded and looked back at her.

"But you know, it was probably a mistake that you fell for that. It could've happened to anyone, really." He said, trying to put her in a lighter mood.

"Maybe you shouldn't sell something like that. It took forever to get that thing off my hair and my clothes." She grumbled still.

"Why didn't you use a cleaning spell then?" Fred asked. She glanced to him.

"I did, and it wouldn't work." That made the ginger haired boy wonder.

"Did we ever put an anti-cleaning spell on those things?" He asked George, who said nothing. Melinda's attitude had put him off a little, but he tried not to be bothered by it; she was probably grumpy due to tiredness and since she didn't get any rest that afternoon, well…

"Anyways," Valerie cut in, wanting to change the subject. "I think we should make a bet on who is going to win the tournament." She said. That perked the twins' interest real quick.

"A fine thing to bet on; splendid!" Fred praised. "So how much are we talking about here?" Valerie thought for a moment, and then held up five fingers.

"I'm willing to bet 5 galleons." That seemed to please the two.

"Fine, we'll bet 7 galleons and 3 sickles, each." George said and Fred nodded in approval. Andrea didn't like to make bets, especially on silly things like these so she stayed out.

"What about you Mel?" Val asked. Mel gave a lazy shrug.

"5 galleons and 10 sickles I guess." Fred ruffled her hair a bit.

"That's our Mel~" She got annoyed and pushed his hand away from her head, being reminded of the goo that previously covered it all. He disregarded that attitude of hers and continued to speak about the tournament with Val while George observed Melinda.

'She's not actually mad at us about the prank is she? We didn't even set it up ourselves, but I wonder…who did it?' He thought. As the dinner came to a close, Mel kept her promise to visit Carina and Martha after it, and George came along with her even though she said he didn't have to.

"But I want to see her too, or am I not allowed to anymore?" He questioned, half joking. A roll of her eyes made him lose his humor and sighed in a bit of frustration.

"Come on Mel, you can't actually be upset with me about that prank; it was an accident." He said, not able to just keep the subject quiet anymore.

"No, not really…I think." She shook her head. "I'm just a little grumpy because I couldn't get my rest I guess. The fact that it took ages to clean myself up was another factor too." She then looked to him.

"Sorry if I seemed a little snappish and irritated." George smiled and gave a nod of understanding.

"Alright, I forgive you." She smiled as well and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before reaching the Hospital Wing. The two entered the nursery room where Martha was trying to calm a crying Carina.

"Oh dear, it's a good thing you came now. I think your daughter is famished." She said as Melinda came and took Carina from her.

"It's alright Martha, I'll take it from here now. You should go get yourself something to eat." Deciding to follow her suggestion, Martha excused herself and exited the room. George closed the door after she left and looked back to Melinda.

"So, um, are you going to feed her?" He asked, being a little nervous about it as he's never witnessed such a thing, so he wasn't sure of what to do.

"Yeah, which means you'll have to keep your back to me while I do so."

"Aw, ruin my fun why don't you." He joked, but obeyed her and took a seat on a chair before facing away from the two. In a way he felt that this arrangement was better; frankly he didn't think he could handle the sight of Melinda breast feeding just yet, for obvious reasons. Mel sat down and pulled up her shirt before undoing her bra and placing Carina to her bosom. The child went quiet real quick.

"So…" George began after the crying had stopped. "How long does this erm, process, take to finish?" Melinda chuckled at the way he worded it.

"It depends. Sometimes it's 20 minutes, other times is 30 or maybe even a little longer." She answered.

"Oh, okay." He mumbled and stared at the wall in front of him.

'Boy isn't this fun…' He thought. He had half the mind to glance back, but he didn't want to come off as a pervert to Melinda, so he stayed put like a well-behaved little boyfriend. The time seemed to go by slowly, until finally Carina stopped feeding. Melinda fixed her shirt and stood up.

"It's safe now." She told George, and he slowly looked back first before turning his whole body around. Melinda lightly patted Carina's back, and soon she gave a small baby burp. George grinned and stood up, going around Mel to look at the tiny face.

"It's funny," He started out while staring.

"Hm? What is?" Mel asked curiously and glanced back at him.

"Just how tiny babies are. They're cute, but so tiny…to think we were like that when we were born is almost weird." Mel looked to her daughter and then grinned.

"Such an odd thing to say, George." She then turned to him and leaned over, lightly kissing his lips. He paused for a second, then smiled and turned that peck into an actual kiss for a few seconds. Melinda pulled away and began to lightly rock Carina to sleep. George watched her in wonder, and many crazy thoughts came to mind all at once as he observed his girlfriend with her daughter.

"Mel, um…can I ask you a question and can you promise not to yell at me, be offended or freak out whatsoever?" She looked at him, puzzled.

"I'm almost afraid to let you ask the question, but since I'm so curious I promise." He nodded and thought first how he should put it into words.

"Well, I was just thinking here…will there ever be a possibility that we can get our relationship farther than it is? I-I mean, do you ever think about settling down, marrying and having more kids in the future?" Her eyes widened a little, but as promised she didn't overreact.

"W-Well, you sure caught me off guard with that. I don't know George, maybe…" She mumbled, unsure of it herself. Would she like to have all that? She had already skipped one of the steps. George moved a little closer to her.

"You know, if things end up working out between us, which is what I hope, then maybe once we're out of school we can go for it. I mean, that's only if you want to of course. There's no rush at all on this, trust me." He said, and felt quite pathetic for just bursting all that in such a lame way.

"Yeah, we'll see." She said and gave a smile. "Thanks George, you really are a great guy." Those words made him turn a bit red and smile back.

"Anytime, Mel. Anytime."


	25. Halloween Special

**WARNING: I realized I already had Halloween on the timeline from the Rumors chapter, but let's make this an AU Halloween Special, kay? :)**

**Enjoy this one Spin-Off Halloween Special. Note, this takes place when Melinda is still pregnant.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

"Halloween. Such a special holiday, and isn't it ironic too?" Andrea commented. Mel and Val looked to her with clueless looks at first.

"Ironic how?" Val asked with her mouth half full of pumpkin pie. Andrea rolled her eyes and gave her a disapproving look after.

"Because muggles dress up as things they don't think exist when in fact they do, knucklehead!" She gave an 'ooh' sound and went back to eating. Melinda grinned and oddly thought of Hermione Granger; how long did she think that way until the day she got her letter of acceptance to Hogwarts?

"Hey lovely ladies!" Chorused the handsome twins as they came up and sat down with the three. The girls casually greeted them back.

"So, you three ready for the Halloween party that's going on at 9?" Fred asked. The blank looks he got from them told him all.

"You haven't heard of it yet?" He gave a fake gasp and looked at his brother with wide eyes; George copied his theatrical act.

"My word, your group doesn't get the word too fast, huh?" Valerie gave a huff at his tease.

"Just spill about the party already." He nodded and so went on telling them of the event.

"So, it was actually Lee Jordan's idea. Brilliant really! It's actually a good thing that you haven't heard of it, because only a select few people are being invited to attend it. Of course, since you three know now you're invited as well." He added in with a wink to which Val rolled her eyes.

"You're coming right? You have to; I don't want to be dateless at this party." George joked to Mel. She gave a shrug, but it did sound rather fun.

"I suppose I could go. I have nothing better to do anyway." She agreed. That made the twins really happy.

"Well, since Mel's going I'm going too." Val decided then, and looked to Andrea who seemed hesitant.

"Come on Rosetti, you know you want to. Loosen up that tight ship of yours." Fred edged her on. She resisted, and resisted and…eventually gave in.

"Oh fine," She sighed. "I'll go." So it was settled.

* * *

The annual Halloween feast Dumbledore gave wasn't anything compared to Lee Jordan's party, which happens to be at a ordinarily unused classroom, dusty and having natural spider webs which made it less of a hassle to actually decorate. The boys made a pretty good job at enchanting small jack-o-lanterns to float in the air and about the room. At what one would deem the professor's desk was a large bowl of punch and many Halloween-themed pastries (obviously nicked from the kitchen). The sound of music was evident inside, but from the outside it was dead quiet. One of Lee's friends, a 7th year Hufflepuff, was very good with charms so he did the courtesy of placing a sound-proof enchantment on the whole room in case professors came around.

"Wow, this is cool!" Valerie said upon arriving there with the other two. Andrea was pretty impressed with the set up herself.

"Alright, so I guess it wasn't a bad idea to come here." She admitted, to which Melinda smiled.

"It's always fun when the twins are involved." She said, and right then the two crept up behind her and grasped her in a tight hug.

"Did you hear that, Fred?"

"I believe I did, George, and our dear Mel is quite right!" They let go of her and she turned to face them.

"You almost smothered me to death." She joked, and they grinned like Cheshire cats.

"Trust us, we could've done worse. Anyways, you three enjoy yourselves in this fancy-shamnsy party! Drinks are free at a small fee and the food's kitchen-approved!" The girls laughed.

There were at least 20 kids in the room, hanging out, dancing and just having an overall good time. Lee Jordan was going around asking the guests to rate the party for record's sake and the twins were always trying to interrupt him on it. The Hufflepuff trio chatted with a couple of known faces to them, and helped themselves to the food and drinks. Melinda was really having a good social time when she suddenly began to feel nauseous.

'Oh damn, I almost completely forgot about this.' She thought before she had to rush out to find the nearest bathroom possible. George saw this and snuck out to go after her. Mel luckily found a girl's restroom and went inside, barely getting to the loo in time to let out the contents.

'I hate this so much. I thought it was only in the mornings, what's up with this?' She thought all the while. Someone grabbed her hair and held it back, but she couldn't see who it was until she felt better. Coughing in the end, she wiped her mouth and looked back, only to see George there with a look of concern.

"You alright Mel?" She flushed and stood up while giving him a small nod.

"Yeah, I'm fine but…what are you doing in the girls' bathroom?" She asked while going up to the faucet and turning on the water to clean her mouth. He followed behind her, wearing a small blush on his face.

"Well, I saw you running out so I went after you to make sure you were okay. Was it something you ate that didn't sit well with your stomach?" Mel paused and then nodded.

"Yeah, must've been that." She lied and took a paper towel. He nodded again and awkwardly glanced around.

"Well, you should probably head back to your dorm and get some rest. Don't want you missing classes in the morning, you goody-two-shoes." He joked. Mel gave a chuckle and looked at him.

"Right, well thanks for looking after me George. I'm sure I'll be fine by morning." He smiled back, and even after Mel walked out he still went with her until she got near the kitchen and stopped.

"Despite that little incident, you can tell Lee Jordan I had a great time at the party." He grinned when she said that and moved closer, giving her a gentle hug. She was a little taken back by it, but returned it all the same.

"Of course. You have a good night Mel." He whispered. Something in the tone of his voice sounded a little strange to Mel.

"You too George." She mumbled and pulled away from the hug. The Weasley boy stared down at her for a while, before he moved away and with a wave, he left. Melinda stared off before going through the secret passage and up to the girls' dorm. With a heavy sigh, she lied down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

'I don't know if I can handle this…' She thought, putting her hand on her stomach, frowning. It's been over a month since she found out she was pregnant, and the consequences of it were already wearing her down. She couldn't even go through a simple party without something happening to interrupt her fun. Would it always be like this? And what about after the baby was born? Would she still be able to have fun? Her head hurt from just thinking about it.

'Calm down Mel, you can pull through this, you can.' She tried to think positive as she closed her eyes.

'Yeah, everything will be fine…you just have to make the best out of it, or try at least.' Just then, Andrea and Valerie came in and went over to her.

"Hey Mel, you alright?" Andrea asked in a whisper. She opened her eyes and sat up.

"Yeah, I just got a little sick." She mumbled. The girls exchanged knowing looks and they sat at her bedside.

"It's okay Mel, it'll pass soon. I mean the sickness can't go on forever it's been a month already. It should stop soon." Andrea said gently, giving her a side hug. Val joined in and that made Melinda feel better. At least she had their support on this.

'Halloween might've not gone the way I wanted, but it could've been worse I guess.' She thought.

* * *

**Hey guys! I know this is super short and kinda suckish, but I felt I needed to post SOMETHING until I got to work on ideas for the next chapter and all (writer's block). I hope you guys enjoyed this short special anyway! Thanks :)**


	26. In Light of Grief

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry again for the late update, but here's finally another chapter. All I can say is, thank god for holidays! :) **** Hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

June 21st, 1995

The third and last Triwizard Tournament Task was to take place within four days at the Quidditch pitch. Over spring, plants had been grown in order to become a maze for the task. Everyone was anxious and excited for it, especially since Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory were tied with their points. There were many different opinions on who was going to be the winner of the Tournament:

"Who will win?"

"I dunno, my bet's on Harry though."

"You're kidding! Cedric will totally win!"

"You're daft! Krum will turn the tables in the end!"

"Fleur Delacour is beautiful!"

Others were still worried about the results of the OWLs to be talking about the tournament; some such as Andrea and Melinda.

"Oh, I hate waiting for the results. It just makes me worry more!" Andrea whined, the stress level still high even after the completion of the two week long examination. Melinda felt her pain, because she herself was on edge about the results. For some reason she felt she hadn't done so well on the Defense Against Dark Arts and Transfiguration exams.

"Oh quit being a worry-wart already! You're done with it and that's all that should matter. Worry about the grade when you actually get the letter." Val told her, waving it off like it was nothing. Mel smiled a slight bit before staring down at her Charms book. The conversation she had with George a week or so ago was still hanging around her thoughts.

'He's wonderful, but am I willing to spend the rest of my life with him? As if having a kid wasn't enough work already, how would we manage?' She wanted nothing more than to get a break from all these opportunities and decisions that kept springing up on her ever so often. But how could she when George himself kept bringing up the subject of marriage? She wasn't ready to have a baby at the age of 15, so how can anyone expect her to be ready to marry after finishing school?

School…would she even return to Hogwarts next year? That was not yet determined, and she needed to talk to the headmaster again about it. Part of her wanted to have one year without having to worry about taking care of Carina, but another part felt she was being selfish with her wants.

"Mel? She's zoning again." Val muttered to Andrea as the two watched Mel get that far-away look on her face.

"Yeah, just leave her she probably has a lot on her plate too, you know."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Valerie looked at her, and Andrea sighed at her friend's naiveness. Melinda then came back from her own little world and look back at the two.

"Did you say something?"

"No." Both shook their heads and went back to reading their Charms book. Mel pinched her nose bridge before doing the same. She could dwell on those thoughts after class.

* * *

"Hey Mel!" Cedric called out as he came up to her after the period was over. Valerie tried not to giggle at the sight him and Andrea just rolled her eyes.

"Hey Cedric." Mel greeted back and he smiled upon reaching them.

"You girls excited for the upcoming task? I'm going to give my all in order to win that cup for our house." He said with confidence. The girls smiled at that.

"Of course, I'm sure you'll do great." That comment had him filled with more hope and pride in his abilities.

"Yes well, I'll also have you in mind when I'm out there." That shocked the group a little, especially Valerie who felt her feelings being slowly crushed by what he said.

"Oh, um, well that's very nice of you. But you know, even if you don't win we'll still be proud of you." Melinda gave a quick side glance to Val, who seemed to be holding up her face well…for now.

Cedric grinned and nodded. "Right, well that's a relief. Anyway, I'll talk to you later." He said before he went off. Andrea watched him go before looking over to Val.

"You okay there?" She gently asked.

"Huh? Of course I am! Why would you ask that?" She said, feigning surprise. Melinda frowned a little, and felt a bit of guilt overcome her. Why did Cedric have to go and say that? Didn't he know Valerie had a huge crush on him? Besides, what about Cho Chang? She thought that of all people, she'd be the one he should be saying that to.

"Uh, right, well let's get going or else we'll be late for Potions." Val nodded and the three headed off to the dungeons. On their way there, Draco and his goons were coming from the other direction, followed closely by Pansy and her groupies. Valerie gave a small groan as she had a feeling they were going to clash today. Sure enough, Pansy saw them coming and began to whisper to her friends, them breaking into a fit of giggles.

"Just ignore them." Andrea mumbled to the two as they went past, Draco giving a slight glance Mel's way before he continued on. However, Pansy didn't let it slide by that easy.

"Hey Valkyrie! You seem to be getting big again. Got another baby on the way already? " The cruel joke had Melinda stop in her tracks. Andrea's eyes widened and Valerie was about to go and beat the pug face senseless.

"Why you little bitch-"But she was interrupted by Draco himself, who came over and glared at Parkinson.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Pansy looked at him in shock.

"Why, Draco I'm just-"

"Don't waste time blabbering with them, get going!" He huffed, making her yelp and quickly head off with her friends. Melinda stared at Draco in complete shock and amazement. Had he really done that? Val and Andrea looked at one another, mouths almost gaping at what just took place. Draco didn't even look at them before he turned and walked off to catch up to Crabbe and Goyle, equally surprised and not ashamed of leaving their mouths hanging open. The blond Slytherin prince pushed past them and barked for the two to keep going.

"Woah, I didn't see that coming." Val muttered. Andrea nodded to that, and both looked back at Melinda.

"Mel, he totally stood up for you-well, in his own way, but still!" She nodded a little, then turned and continued off to the Dungeons. Whatever got into Draco back there was really something she did not expect of him in a million years. He was so worried about image and all that, so how come he confronted Pansy like that? Was it because of Carina? Well, whatever reason it was, it really made her feel strange inside.

The three took their seats at their usual table in the back; the farthest away from Professor Snape as possible, courtesy of Valerie who found the man unnerving and creepy. Neither of them opened their mouths to say anything after what went down just minutes ago. Snape even looked up after a while and narrowed his eyes in suspicion; usually he'd have to tell them to shut up in order to get the silence. Soon, flocks of students began to come inside and take seats at their usual tables. A lot of Ravenclaws came in first, before a couple of Hufflepuffs showed up as well. When the last bell rang, all were there and talking amongst each other, that is, until Professor Snape shut the door quite loudly, making the entire classroom silent again.

"Turn to page 316 and begin brewing the potion as instructed." He said, meticulously so. They didn't need to be told twice as they set to work. The routine restarted as Andrea turned the page and began to read the instructions as Valerie got the ingredients, and Mel took charge of getting the exact portions into the cauldron in heat. Although Andrea and Val were temporarily occupied by their tasks, Melinda could not stop thinking about Malfoy.

'It's still unbelievable to me. For him to do that to his Slytherin mates I…I don't even know what to think of him anymore.'

"Mel, watch what you're doing!" Andrea hissed to her, breaking her from her thoughts and quickly lowering the temperature of the cauldron before the contents spilled out of it.

'I have got to stop getting lost in my thoughts so much.'

* * *

"He did _what_?" Fred couldn't wrap the idea of Draco acting that way around his brain. George was equally astonished, but he said nothing about it, oddly enough.

"I know! We were all stunned when that happened. Man, something must've got to him…" Val mumbled.

"You mean **someone**." She nudged her head to Melinda who was only half listening to the conversation. Valerie looked back at her with wide eyes.

"No—you think? Oh my..." Fred raised an eyebrow at that.

"What are you two talking about?" But the girls said nothing, giving him a shrug and a 'don't worry about it' look. He sighed in frustration and just went back to eating his food. Meanwhile, George was watching Mel from the corner of his eyes, a strange look on his face.

'He didn't do it just because they had a baby, no. Malfoy's up to something…' He thought, before poking Melinda's arm to get her attention.

"Hm? What is it?" She asked.

"Can I talk to you in private for a second?" He asked in a low tone so the others wouldn't hear. She stared at him and raised an eyebrow, but then nodded and got up.

"Hey, where you guys going?" Fred asked, but the look on his brother's face had him question no further. The couple walked out of the Great Hall and stopped near the staircases.

"So, what's so important that you had to talk to me in private?" She curiously asked him. George looked around to make sure they were alone at the moment before getting to the point.

"Look, what Malfoy did earlier today…I don't like it Mel, he might be up to something." Melinda stared at George with a look of perplexity.

"Well, I didn't quite understand why he did what he did, but I don't think there's any ill intention behind it. I mean," She leaned a little closer to whisper the rest, "We did have a kid together. That must've triggered something in him." Those words didn't make George any happier; if anything, it made him more upset and irritated.

"Don't be fooled now, Mel. Don't forget he's Malfoy, the brat who likes to tease and pick on people outside the Slytherin house. He's a stuck-up who has money flowing through his arms only because of his rich, pompous parents that spoil him to no end. He doesn't have good character!" He stressed. Melinda sighed when he kept pressing it.

"I know he's all that, but George, who knows? He might've changed a little since Carina was born. It's not fair for you to say he hasn't got good character when he defended me today." The Weasley boy was dumbstruck by her attitude.

"What? I—listen to yourself! It sounds more like **you're** defending him now. Just because he snapped a little at Parkinson? Maybe he was in a bad mood with her, maybe that's why he went off and you mistook it for him sticking up for you." Now that comment got Melinda a little annoyed.

"Why? You don't think it's possible that he could have the heart to do that for me, or rather, for the fact that I'm the mother of his child? I think you're overreacting a little too much about this, George." He scoffed before running a hand through his ginger hair and sighing.

"Look, I just don't want you to think that he's all of a sudden turning out to be good because of that. You have to remember who he really is; don't let one sudden act of his trick you into believing that he's Mr. nice." He said, more gently this time.

"Honestly, what do you take me for? Look, I know he won't change from one day to another, just because of what he did. I'm not saying that at all… but althesame you really shouldn't underestimate him either. I know he's always been a prick to everyone, but maybe there's more to him than we know." That did it. George seriously didn't like how she was talking about Draco, how she was being defensive about him, protecting him to some degree…why was she doing that all of a sudden?

"Mel, you couldn't possibly be…are you starting to like him?" He dared to ask. He had to be sure of it.

"What? No! Why would you even ask such a thing when I'm going out with you? I think you're a bit jealous, that's what I think." George got wide eyes from that suggestion.

"Me? Jealous of _him_? Please, you insult me with that! I'm not jealous at all, just concerned for you." He burst out, not believing that she would dare assume him to be jealous of that…that Slytherin brat! Melinda crossed her arms and didn't seem to take his words to heart.

"Right, well you're acting as if you were. Anyway," She sighed. "This is starting to sound like an argument, let's not make it worse, okay?" George nodded, deciding not to test her patience and his luck. He didn't want to fight with her because of Malfoy, of all things.

"Yeah you're right. Let's go back and finish eating, hm?" He held his hand out to her. She took it and they both went back to the Great Hall, where their friends were waiting for their return.

"About time. Did something happen?" Andrea asked, sensing that something might've gone on between the two.

"No, everything's fine." George said as he sat down next to Fred. Melinda nodded in agreement and sat down herself. Fred gave his brother a suspicious look, but decided to question about it later when the two were alone. As for Mel, she still thought he was acting out of jealousy, as she dug into her food once more. George, on the other hand, was beginning to have doubts about Mel's feelings for him.

* * *

The remaining days went by and finally, the time for the Third Task was here. Everyone gathered at the Quidditch pitch to see the champions head into the massive maze. Dumbledore began to give the opening speech.

"Earlier today, Professor Moody placed the Triwizard Cup deep within the maze. Only he knows its exact position. Now as Mr. Diggory-" He was briefly interrupted by loud cheers for Cedric.

"And Mr. Potter tied for first position they will be the first to enter the maze. Followed by Mr. Krum-" Yet again cheers erupted upon the mention of his name.

"The first person to touch the cup," Dumbledore proceeded, "will be the winner. I've instructed the staff to patrol the perimeter; if at any point should a contestant wish to withdraw from the task he or she need only send up red sparks with their wands. Contestants, gather round." He motioned them to come up closer, and so they did. He gave some instructions to them before Mad-Eye Moody shouted,

"Champions! Prepare yourselves." Cedric went up to his father to give him a hug, then looked up to where Melinda and her friends were standing and waved. They waved back and wished him good luck before he joined back with the rest.

"Oh, I do hope he wins this thing." Valerie said with a wishful look on her face, her hands clutched together.

"I'll just be glad if he just comes out of it alive. All of them really." Mel said as she watched Dumbledore count down.

"On the count of three…one-" The sound of a cannon went off before he could even get to two. A sheepish Mr. Filch shrugged while Dumbledore gave a slight groan. Then, Harry and Cedric both entered the maze through different entrances. Right as they got in, the entrances closed up behind them, preventing the public to see what was happening from thereon.

"Oh, great, we can't see what's happening!" Fred grumbled, him and his brother not pleased with the lack of spectacle. The girls rolled their eyes at them, except for Valerie who was just as irritated about it. Within ten minutes of all of them having gone into the maze, a red spark was shot into the air, making a few students in the crowd gasp and wonder who did it and what happened.

'Please don't let that be Cedric.' Mel thought, really hoping the boy had a good chance at it. Nothing else really happened for the next hour or two, and many were growing impatient.

"Oh come on, what's taking so long? Who's winning?"

"I don't know; can't see a bloody thing from here!"

"Will you quit it? We'll know when it's time!" Andrea snapped at the group that was complaining not too far from them. They instantly shut their traps after being scolded like that. Valerie was stunned by her attitude.

"Wow Andrea, just, wow…" She huffed in turn. "Oh shut it." Mel grinned a little and looked back to the maze. What were the things they were possibly facing in there? Just the thought made her get shivers.

'On second thought, I really don't want to know.' Another half hour elapsed, until suddenly Harry appeared out of thin air in front of one of the maze entrances, the cup in hand. And he had Cedric with him! Just the sight of them made the crowd roar with cheers, but something seemed to be off.

"Wait, why's Harry leaning over Cedric like that?" Andrea questioned, suspicious of the scene.

"Is he…crying?" Mel said as she tried to take a better look. They saw Dumbledore rush over to them and pull Harry away from Cedric. A lot of confusion ensued afterwards, and then Cedric's father, Amos Diggory, rushed over to his son's body.

"Let me through! That's my son! My boy." He began weeping.

"Oh no." Valerie looked away and began to cry on Andrea's shoulder. Everyone stared at the scene with horror and sadness. How did it end like this? Melinda frowned and looked away as well. He didn't deserve to have his life end at such a young age. What's worse is that, he had told her he'd have her on his mind as he was doing the task. That notion only made her conscious weigh more.

'Oh Cedric, why did this happen?' George looked over to her and pulled her into a comforting hug, seeing that she was distraught by the scene. She welcomed it without a second thought. Harry was taken away by Mad-Eye while Cedric's body was removed from the field. Everyone had to stay in their seats until given permission to exit the Quidditch arena. The head of each house, along with the prefects guided the students straight to their Common Room to remain there until further notice. George went along with Mel until they had to go their separate ways.

"I can't believe it. I can't believe this is happening!" Cho Chang choked out while she and a couple of her friends went off, trying to comfort her on the way. Andrea frowned and looked down, still holding Valerie close to her as the girl was still weeping badly about Cedric's death. Every Hufflepuff was silent as they entered their Common Room, and were instructed by Professor Sprout to stay idle and remain calm about the situation, even though she herself had a handkerchief wiping the corners of her eyes every few minutes. Andrea went to the couch and had Val sit down with her, Mel joining them and keeping to herself as she let Andrea handle their grieving friend. It wasn't just Valerie either; a lot of Hufflepuff girls were weeping for Cedric, and though his best mates were trying to put on a tough act, you could see it on their faces that they were deeply affected by it.

The Hufflepuffs stayed in there, quiet as ever except for the occasional sniffs and weeps. About an hour went by until Dumbledore showed up and began to talk in whispers with Professor Sprout. Then, she ordered the prefects to keep an eye on the rest as she went off with Dumbledore to Merlin knows where.

"I wish they would tell us something." Andrea muttered after a while. Valerie said nothing, her eyes red and puffy from crying so much. Melinda was frozen in spot, just staring down at her hands and not daring to look up for nothing. It still felt unreal to her, it just wasn't fair. Cedric was a good boy; he was the role model of their House, kind and courageous at the same time. He was friends with practically everyone. So why? Why did it have to be him?

It wasn't until another fifty minutes went by that Sprout returned and told the students to follow her out without a fuss. They did as told, and quietly headed out of the Commons Room, eventually coming up to the Assembly Room where there were many chairs set up. They took their seats, and were soon joined by the other Houses and the rest of the professors. Dumbledore soon arrived and stood in front of everyone. Everything went dead silent when he began to speak, in a slight grave tone.

"Today, we acknowledge a really terrible loss. Cedric Diggory was, as you all know, exceptionally hard working, intricately fair minded…and most importantly, a fierce, fierce friend." He paused momentarily to let that sink in. Valerie tried not to choke on more tears.

"I think therefore, you have the right to know exactly how he died, you see, Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort." That was unexpected news, and it had many gasping in surprise.

"By You-Know-Who? No, that's not possible he's dead, isn't he?" One Hufflepuff 3rd year whispered to her friend.

"The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this. But not to do so I think would be an insult to his memory! Now, the pain we all feel at this dreadful loss reminds me, reminds us that while we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one. In light of recent events the bonds of friendship we made this year will be more important than ever. Remember that, and Cedric Diggory will not have died in vain, you remember that. And we'll celebrate a boy who was kind and honest, and brave and true right to the very end." Dumbledore finalized his speech, before dismissing the students. His words touched many very deeply, especially Melinda who had her mind wrapped around it for several hours after.

Valerie had gone off to get some sleep after having cried her eyes out, while Andrea decided to bury herself in books to calm her down and keep her from dwelling on the sadness they all felt. Classes were canceled for the day due to the events that took place, but no one was thinking about such a thing when the most graving news of You-Know-Who having returned was dropped on them like a bomb. And Cedric's tragic end was proof of that. Though they were advised to remain in their Common Rooms, Melinda snuck out to get some air, and ended up bumping into Draco in the hall.

"What are you doing out here? You could get caught you know." He said, but it didn't have the same sting or tone of aggravation it usually had.

"I had to get out for a while. All the sadness is just…suffocating." She mumbled, not even bothering to remark. Draco stared at her with a look of understanding, and after he looked to make sure no one was around, he took her arm and dragged her off. She was startled by that.

"Where are you-"

"Just shut up and keep walking." He told her and continued on. She said nothing up until he stopped when they reached the top of the Astronomy Tower.

"I don't think any professors will know we're up here." She stared at him, still confused.

"Um…but why did you bring me here?" She asked. He gave her a sort of skeptical look before scorning her.

"Well, didn't you say you had to get out? If you kept wandering in the hallways you'd be caught in a matter of minutes by Filch and I don't think you'd want that right now." He had a point there, so she didn't question anymore. Mel went up to the railing and took a seat, staring out at the darkening sky; no stars were coming out and it seemed to fit the mood of the entire castle right now. Draco watched her before hesitantly going over and taking a seat next to her.

"So...are you upset about that Diggory guy?" She gave him a cynical look.

"He was my friend, what do you think?" He got a bit red and grumbled as he looked away. Mel stared down at her lap; it was very odd sitting there with him and not really arguing about the usual things they argued about. Although, that day back at the nursery…

"Oh! Damn I forgot to check on Carina." She said, getting up to do so; it's been hours since she left her in Martha's care and with all this happening she wasn't sure her caretaker even knew what was going on.

"Don't bother, I already went and checked on her." He suddenly said, causing her to stop and look at him.

"…you did?" He nodded and gave her a quizzical look.

"Yeah, where do you think I was coming from?"

'The Hospital Wing…' She sat back down and was quiet for a couple of seconds. She had to ask him something…she just had to.

"Draco…do you go there often? You know, to see her?" He didn't look at her, just ahead at the dark hills and lake; the sun had set completely by now. Just when she felt she wasn't going to get an answer, he spoke again.

"As often as I can. I usually have to find an excuse to get away from the rest so I can have a quick peek…but your caretaker is always around it's hard to come near her." He grumbled in the end. Melinda couldn't help but smile at that. So he did care. He wasn't all about tough pride and smugness after all.

"That's…really great. I'm glad." She said, causing him to flush a little more and look back at her.

"You are? Why?" That was a good question, and though she wasn't exactly sure why, she had a response for that.

"Well, because like it or not, you're her father. To know that you care about our baby makes this more bearable for me." He didn't quite understand what she meant by that, but just the fact that she liked to know about his visits to the nursery made him feel…good inside.

"Melinda?" He suddenly called out, looking away once again. She turned to him when he did.

"Yes?" Draco bit his lip, very uncertain about saying the next thing.

"Well…that night at the pub…do you regret it?" She didn't know what to say to that. Mel didn't expect him to ask her such a thing, considering the end result of it, but maybe…

"Do you?" She counter asked. He didn't answer right away, and it killed her a bit with the suspense he was making. He then turned to her and stared right into her eyes when he answered.

"No, I don't."


	27. Coming This Far - Finale

**This is the Story Finale! I hope you guys enjoyed it! It was a pleasure writing this, and it's my first finished story ever, yay! =)**

**Also, look forward to the Sequel!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I only own the OC's in this story.**

* * *

The day after the Triwizard Tournament incident, the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were finally heading back home. It was around afternoon, and they were saying their goodbyes to fellow friends they've made in the course of the year. Although many were still shaken by what happened with Cedric, they set that aside for now to give farewell to them as they walked down a long hallway. The Beauxbatons girls left first, in their blue uniforms and being applauded by Hogwarts students. Next, the Durmstrang boys went through, shaking hands with a few as they went by. Valerie had no enthusiasm in seeing them go, neither did Mel or Andrea.

"It's been a long year." The brunette commented as she watched everyone clapping and waving off to the foreign pupils. Melinda nodded absentmindedly, a bit distracted by a thought in her mind. She still replayed the moment she had with Draco in the balcony of the Astronomy Tower. He said he didn't regret what happened between them. Melinda left after that without saying another word, because she didn't know what to say to that. She was disrupted by the sound of horses neighing. Looking up, she saw the Beauxbatons carriage take off into the air, whilst the Bulgarians' ship went underwater. Sighing, she headed back inside, soon followed by the other two.

"Is everything alright Mel?" Andrea asked, sensing something off about her.

"Given all that's happened this year, what do you think?" She snapped a little, and then recoiled.

"Sorry, I'm just a little on edge today…" The brunette frowned and looked to Val, but she didn't seem to be paying attention to them at all. She's been quiet and somber ever since what happened. Sighing, she said nothing else as they got back to the Common Room. Valerie headed up to the dorm while the other two remained in the Common area. Mel sat on the couch nearest to the fire, listening to the occasional crackling sound it made. Andrea sat down beside her and watched. She was concerned about her friends as they were not acting like themselves. But who could blame them? It was a very unfortunate thing…

"Mel, tell me what's going on. I understand Val being so upset, but…" The caramel haired girl gave a shake of her head.

"Cedric didn't deserve that…but that's not what's bugging me right now." She turned to her friend.

"After we got back from Dumbledore's assembly speech, I went off and bumped into Draco." She said in a hushed tone. Andrea's eyes widened and moved closer.

"So what happened?" Melinda was unsure whether to tell her or not, but in the end decided to. She was her friend after all. After she related the entirety of what happened, her friend was stunned, but very silent for the first few minutes. That was nerve-wrecking for Mel to a certain degree.

"I…don't know what to say Mel. That's just as surprising as that day when he stood up to Parkinson for you." She agreed; he's been acting pretty odd.

"I don't know what to think of him anymore. I mean, I can tell he cares about Carina and all, but there's just something off about the way he's acting towards me." Andrea nodded and pondered on it for a few.

"Well, I've heard that when a couple has a baby, they get a special connection through their child sometimes." That was something to think about.

"Or," She continued. "He might actually like you." The thought was almost insane to Melinda. Draco? Actually like her? Then again, it wouldn't be completely impossible…

"I don't know Andrea…this is all too confusing let's just drop it." Her friend hesitantly nodded, seeing that she was too stressed out about it.

"On another note, we get our OWL results tomorrow morning!" She said, trying to sound cheery about it, even though she was really worried sick about what grades she received. Mel gave a slight smile to that.

"Yeah, can't wait to see what I got." The two stuck around for a while before going up to the dorm to check on Valerie, who was lying in bed with a dazed look. The two exchanged a look before going over and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Oh come on Val, lighten up. Lying here all day in mourning won't do you any good." Andrea said, shaking her shoulder a bit. Melinda brushed a loose strand of hair from her face.

"We're all still sad about it Val, but you can't just let grief take over you. The school year is almost over and we should try to make the best of it." The blond girl said nothing, but slowly sat up and sniffed a little.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Her two friends smiled and gave her a comforting hug. Valerie gave a small smile.

"I don't know what I'd do without you two." She said, deeply touching Andrea and Mel.

"Same here Val, same here."

* * *

"It's finally here!" Andrea announced as she and the others received their OWL results from Professor Sprout. She was the first to quickly open up and look over. She got a grin on her face.

"I take it you did well?" Mel asked, trying not to laugh at her gleeful expression.

"I got 5 Outstanding, 3 Exceeds Expectations and 1 Acceptable. No failing grades, woop!" She cheered, causing the other two to finally laugh.

"Oh you, well let's see how I did." Val opened up her letter and looked over. After reviewing it, she shrugged and set it down. The other two looked at her.

"Well?" They urged. Valerie grinned a bit.

"I got 1 Outstanding, 4 Exceeds Expectations and 3 Acceptable." They congratulated her with hugs and pats.

"See? And you thought you'd to bad, both of you." Mel teased them.

"Well now it's your turn Mel." She nodded and took out her letter to look over. She went through the list of the grades, and luckily for her, no failing grade either!

"6 Outstanding and 3 Exceeds Expectations." That came as no surprise to her friends.

"Well, you always were the smartest one of our group." Val nudged her while Andrea snickered.

"Yeah, and those long hours of studying really paid off in the end, thank Merlin!" The other two could totally vouch for that. Not long after, the Weasley twins came over to check what they got.

"So? How did the ladies do on their OWLs?" They didn't wait for them to answer as the scooped all their letters to check themselves. By the end of it, they had mouths gaping.

"What the bloody hell? You're all smarty pants!" Fred declared, before they snagged their results back from his hands.

"Especially you Mel. Merlin's beard I could never get that many O's." Melinda gave a shrug.

"Yeah, that's because you two barely tried and got 6 OWL grades, _combined_." Andrea shook her head as she was reminded of that.

"Very sad boys, very sad." They stuck their tongues out at her.

"Anyway, have you thought about my offer?" George asked Mel now. She turned to him with a confused look.

"What offer?" He sighed and sat down. "You don't remember? I invited you to come spend a few days at the Burrow; you and Carina that is." It all came back to her then.

"Oh yeah. Well, I haven't given much thought on it yet, and I still have to talk to Martha about it." Fred wrapped an arm around her.

"Well you better do it fast, because this offer has a deadline." He nodded. George gently shoved him away from her.

"No it doesn't. Just don't take the entire summer to figure out." He jested, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She smiled and nodded.

"Okay I won't." The group then finished up their breakfast meal and went off to their classes. Even though only two days remained until the year was over, Valerie was never in the mood to head over to the Dungeons for an hour's worth of torturous Potions with Professor Snape. True, he was rather mean and intimidating, but Melinda thought that, as a teacher, he had great knowledge in the subject.

"Two more days, two more days and I won't have to see that hooked nose and disgusting greasy hair for two months!" She mumbled as they neared the classroom. Andrea shook her head while Melinda just ignored her rants; at least she wasn't acting all depressed anymore. Upon getting inside, Snape glanced up with sharp eyes, as if to tell them not to open their mouths. They got the message, and took their seats in the back of the room.

"Jesus, he has such an intense stare I can't even dare to look back." Val whispered lowly to the two. Andrea nodded a little, because he did frighten her a little sometimes. Mel shrugged and laid her head down on the table until the rest of the students came in.

* * *

Melinda still hadn't asked Dumbledore about her possible return to school. She decided she would talk to the Headmaster about it before dinnertime. Right now, the trio was having a free period to relax; ever since the OWLs, their teachers, save for Professor Snape, have given them very light homework to do, something like a compensation for their hard work. The girls relaxed by the lake as the weather was very pleasant.

"Aah, I can't wait to go back home and do absolutely nothing." Valerie stated, having her arms behind her head as she lay on the cool grass. Andrea rolled her eyes; she was so lazy sometimes.

"I don't know what you're talking about. We'll have summer homework to do." Mel brought up, causing the blonde to groan.

"You just had to remind me about that, didn't you?" She gave a sheepish grin and looked out into the black lake. It brought her back to the second Triwizard Task and how Harry, Cedric, Fleur and Viktor had to dive into the chilling lake to save those close to them. The thought made her a little depressed, because Cedric was still alive then; no one would ever suspect him to be dead a few months later.

"Hey Mel?" She was brought back from her lingering thoughts by Andrea.

"What?" She looked over to the brunette.

"Are you really going to the Weasley's place?" She shrugged, not having a decisive answer to give George yet.

"I don't know yet. I want to, but with Carina I think it would be a little too much. I don't want to give trouble to their parents." She mumbled. Valerie then sat up as the topic was mentioned.

"Well, I don't think you should hold back on having some bit of fun just because of that. Did George say he checked with them?" Mel gave a nod.

"Yeah, he told me when he first talked about it that he went over it with his mum and that she had given permission."

"Then I don't see any problems with you going." Val crossed her legs and picked at some of the grass. Melinda sighed at that. It wasn't as simple as they thought; at least she didn't think so.

"Anyway, we should head back inside since it's almost time for 4th period to start." The other two nodded and they got up, dusting their clothes off of any dirt before going into the castle. As they came in, Andrea bumped into one of Pansy Parkinson's friends.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" She was pushed back, causing Andrea to fall to the floor with a yelp. Her friends gasped and helped her up.

"Watch where **you're** going instead, twit!" Val barked back at her, not about to let this prick girl talk down to her friend.

"Valerie don't! It's not worth it." Andrea quickly said. The girl sneered before walking away.

"Ooh if I only could just jinx her, she'd regret that!" Val huffed.

"Are you okay?" Mel asked Andrea as she stood up straight, dusting herself off.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Your temper will get you in trouble one day, Val." She warned her blonde friend, who just shrugged it off. She didn't care. Melinda rubbed her temples. This was the reason why she thought there would be no way for her and Draco to be together. She'd have to suffer these assaults daily otherwise. But she didn't want to be with Draco, did she? She had George and that was more than she could ask for. Right? Just dwelling on those things made her head hurt, so she stopped and walked off with the two.

* * *

'Alright, here goes nothing.' Melinda thought, staring at the gargoyle in front of her.

"Erm, Chocolate Frog." The statue began to move upwards, slowly revealing a stairway that she instantly got on. Once it stopped moving, she stepped out and walked over to Dumbledore's Office. She stopped at the door and took a deep breath, but before she could even knock, she heard a voice say,

"Come in, Miss Valkyrie." Blinking, Mel opened the door and walked on in. The office was still the same as she remembered when she first came with Professor Sprout and her two friends to tell him she was pregnant. It was warm and welcoming, and there was a sweet aroma around the room.

"Hello Headmaster." She greeted as she came up to his desk. He gave her a smile and motioned her to sit down on the chair provided.

"What do I owe the pleasure?" He asked. She wasn't quick to get into the subject, because she was feeling slightly nervous of what answer he'd give her.

"Well, you see…the year is almost over and…I wanted to ask you if there was any chance that I'd be able to return next year…?" He folded his fingers below his chin and made a 'hmm' sound, his blue eyes staring at her through his half moon glasses. She stared back, her heart thumping in anticipation.

"I see, so you are worried about how you're going to manage school while having to care for your child. Well, I must say this is the first time something like this has happened, so forgive me if I do not answer with complete confidence." He started off, making her even more nervous.

"However, I do not see why it should stop you from getting the education you deserve. With that being said, have you spoken with your caretaker about possibly looking after your child while you progress into the next school year?" Melinda shook her head.

"No, I mean I thought about it, but I never really got around to talking about it with her. Thing is, I don't want to put such a burden on her. She's done so much for me already, and she's got a sick mother to look after." She told him, frowning a little. Dumbledore nodded and seemed to ponder it some more.

"The only other option I could give you is that you bring your child and care for her in the nursery we have already provided for you this year. I'm sure that would be a better arrangement for everyone." That seemed to give her great relief.

"Also, I think it is much safer for the baby to remain in the castle, where she is better protected from…unwanted harm." He said, giving her a knowing look. Melinda understood. With the talk about You-Know-Who coming back, she knew that there was no other place safer than Hogwarts.

"If I could, I'd like very much to do that, Headmaster." He smiled and moved his hands down.

"Excellent. I will speak beforehand with Madam Pomfrey so she'll be able to assist you when you return for your 6th year in Hogwarts." Nodding, she stood up and smiled at the old man.

"I can't thank you enough." She said, very grateful for his generosity and comprehension. He held a hand up.

"No need to thank me my dear. I always have the student's best interests in mind." He glanced at the grandfather clock in his room.

"And with that, I shall dismiss you to dinner, as it has just begun." She nodded before heading out of his office. Valerie was right, Dumbledore really was the best.

* * *

"Great! We won't be alone next year!" Fred and George celebrated with the news Melinda gave them. She and the girls chuckled at their reaction.

"Yeah yeah, no need to throw a party over it." She joked while the two calmed down and sat back on their seats.

"But really Mel, we're glad Dumbledore let you come back. Oh I was so worried that he wouldn't!" Andrea said, breathing a sigh of relief. Valerie nodded and took a sip of her apple cider before speaking.

"Yeah, but I had total faith in Dumbledore. Is he awesome or what?" They all agreed with that. George then wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer as he gave a kiss to her neck, causing her to blush.

"Still thinking about this summer?" He asked against her ear now. She suppressed a shudder at the tone of voice he used before nodding.

"Y-yeah. I decided to talk to Martha when we get home. I think then it'll be a good time to bring it up to her." He nodded and pulled away.

"Sounds good." Fred leaned over. "Mind you, we'll have lots of goodies to eat as mum likes to fatten us up when we're home. But take your time, no pressure." He winked, earning a roll of the eyes from Valerie.

"Yeah, like she'd want to get fat over summer. Please." Fred groaned and turned to his brother.

"Georgie, why do girls worry so much about weight? It's so annoying~" George tried not to laugh, because he said that in a girly voice. Clearing up his throat, he imitated,

"I don't know Freddie, but golly look at those bumps on your stomach! You really ought to lay off the goods, deary." He patted Fred's belly. The three Hufflepuffs, though slightly offended, burst out laughing at their performance. Those two really knew how to pull some good laughs.

"Joke aside," Andrea then said. "You're going back on Hogwarts Express with us, right?" Melinda looked at her and nodded.

"Of course! The last day and you think I wouldn't make the journey back with my best buddies? Also, I'm taking Carina with me so Martha won't have the trouble of doing that herself." The girls grinned. That got them excited to have their best friend and her kid with them on the trip back home.

"If that's the case, Fred and I will refrain from going out with a bang this year by flying off in our brooms," He said. "Like rebels." Fred finished. Melinda looked at them.

"You two were seriously going to do that?" They looked at each other, and then back at her.

"Well, it was a nifty thought; not sure we were actually going to do it though." George mumbled.

"Mum would probably kill us." Fred muttered, giving a small shudder at the thought.

"But now that you say you're taking the train, and with little Carina no less, we'll settle for tagging along." The girls shook their heads.

* * *

Finally, the last day arrived and everyone was heading to the Hogwarts Express with their luggage. Some were glad to be going back home, others sad that they wouldn't be able to see their mates, but at least they could write to each other. Since Melinda was carrying Carina, Hagrid was kind enough to get her things put into the train for her.

"Thank you Hagrid." She said to the giant who smiled big behind his beard.

"No problem Mel! 'ave a good summer. Bye little fella!" He waved to the baby before she and her friends got into the train and found a compartment. As soon as they settled down they all sighed in unison.

"I know I've said this before, but what a year." Andrea muttered as she leaned back. Valerie nodded and leaned her head against the window. Soon enough, the twins found them and got inside, squeezing next to Mel and her daughter.

"Who's going to eat some candies from the trolley? Anyone?" Fred asked, hoping to mooch off of one of them. Unfortunately for him the girls were not going to by anything, causing him to grumble something about 'girls and their weight watching.'

"Bet you're glad to be going home." George commented, looking down at Carina whose eyes were looking up at him.

"Yeah, it'll be nice to finally relax and not worry about classes for a while." She said. She looked up to the compartment door for a second, and paused when she saw Draco walking by. He stopped momentarily when he she saw her. He stared at Melinda and the baby, an unreadable look on his face, before moving along. Fred leaned over and gently tickled the baby's cheek. He was greeted by a small toothless grin.

"Hah! Made her laugh, see? Oh we'll have lots to laugh about as she grows up." He nodded and went back to trying to convince the other two girls to buy him some treats for the trip. George shook his head at him and wrapped his arm around Mel's shoulder, pulling her a little closer while leaning his head against her. Melinda snapped out of her trance and smiled, giving him a light peck on the cheek that made him quite happy. She then looked out the window as the train began to slowly move, now that all the students had boarded. As the train left the station, the castle got farther and farther away. This year has been incredibly eventful, and though there were many tough times to face, she couldn't help but be grateful for having such amazing friends that stuck by her side at all times. This would be a year hard to forget.


End file.
